Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Dahl Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kobuk, Alaska 99751
Sunday, July 20, 2003 12:45 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to departure on the accident flight, the private certificated pilot fueled the airplane with 14 gallons of fuel from a 55 gallon drum that he stored at his cabin. He conducted a preflight of the airplane, which included draining the airplane's fuel sumps, and found no water in the sumps. After liftoff, the engine power began to decrease slowly. The pilot said the engine did not have any roughness or unusual sounds, but the rpm decreased to about 2,200 and the airplane began to lose altitude. About 200 feet above the ground, the pilot began to turn to the north in an effort to return to the runway, but the airspeed was decreasing. The airplane collided with numerous trees and sustained damage to the wings, lift struts, elevator, and the right main landing gear. Following the accident, the pilot examined the fuel from the airplane. He said he discovered that the fuel he placed in the airplane before departure was diesel fuel. He reported that his storage drum was mislabeled.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadvertent use of diesel fuel in a gasoline engine which resulted in a partial loss of engine power, and subsequent collision with trees during a forced landing after takeoff. A factor contributing to the accident was the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection of the airplane that failed to detect the presence of diesel fuel in the fuel supply.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/20/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1245 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | KOBUK |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99751 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 665636N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1565417W |
| Event Location Airport | DAHL CREEK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | DCK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 60 |
| Airport Elevation | 260 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 225 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14695 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA REGIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 22 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1022 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 5 2004 4:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-AL-FAI FSDO 01 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N40344 |
| NTSB Number | ANC03LA083 |
| 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 | Maule |
| Aircraft Model | M-4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2120C |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 3 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 1742 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MAX C. LYON JR. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | FAIRBANKS |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99709 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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 | DCK |
| Departure City | KOBUK |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAFA |
| Destination City | FAIRBANKS |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2003 2:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 26 |
| Runway Length | 4780 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |