Soldotna Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Soldotna, Alaska 99669
Sunday, December 1, 2002 12:00 AST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The flight departed on runway 07, and the pilot started a right climbing turn when the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot applied carburetor heat, and checked the position of the fuel tank selector, but he could not restart the engine. About 200 feet above ground level, he turned toward the runway. The airplane landed hard on the runway, the left main landing gear collapsed, and the left wing struck the runway. There were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident. The mechanic who recovered the airplane removed more than a pint of water from the right wing fuel sump. The pilot said he fueled the airplane with 87-octane auto gas from 5-gallon cans prior to the flight. He further said he should have strained the fuel through a water trap filter.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to remove all water from the airplane's fuel supply during the preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of engine power and subsequent hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/1/2002
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1200
Event Time Zone Atlantic Standard Time
Event City Soldotna
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99669
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 602834N
Event Location Longitude 1510157W
Event Location Airport Soldotna
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SXQ
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 108
Weather Briefing Completeness Partial - limited by pilot
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1235 Atlantic Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID PASX
Elevation of weather observation facility 100
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation ADT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.11
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13545
NTSB Notification Source FAA Anchorage, ROC
NTSB Notification Date Dec 9 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 1 2003 9:44AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Anchorage FSDO-03

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N270JS
NTSB Number ANC03LA016
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model J5A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 5-18
Certified Max Gross Weight 1450
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 11 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 4
Airframe Hours 2000
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name James R. Babcock
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Kenai
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99611
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name James R. Babcock
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Kenai
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99611
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code SXQ
Departure City Soldotna
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
Departure Time Zone AST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency descent/landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 16 2003 1:29PM
User who most recently changed record PETL
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 07
Runway Length 5000
Runway Width 130
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --