Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Talkeetna, Alaska 99676
Friday, June 25, 2004 16:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The solo private pilot was on a day VFR personal cross-country flight when the airplane collided with gradually up-sloping terrain in a remote area. The pilot was fatally injured, and a postcrash fire consumed the airplane's fuselage and empennage. On site investigation disclosed that the airplane impacted in a near level attitude, with the airplane's crash path and debris field approximately 400 feet long. The airplane propeller hub assembly and propellers were found in the debris field. The propeller tips were fragmented, and the remaining blades had torsional twisting and leading edge gouges. No evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunction was discovered. Conversations with the co-owner of the airplane revealed that the pilot was on vacation in Alaska from California, and had frequently flown the airplane to Alaska. The co-owner noted that the airplane was equipped with a functioning 3-axis autopilot, and that he and the accident pilot utilized it on most flights. He said he was unaware of any mechanical problems with the airplane. A family member of the pilot indicated that he was taking oral medication to control diabetes, but no additional information was provided or discovered. The FAA was unaware of any medical conditions the pilot may have had, and a postmortem examination and toxicological samples disclosed no definitive evidence of preimpact incapacitation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain during cruise flight, which resulted in an in-flight collision with terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/25/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Talkeetna |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99676 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 625914N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1495332W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Witness |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18153 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Anchorage, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 25 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1815 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Anchorage, FSDO-03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7673N |
| NTSB Number | ANC04FA070 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-88 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3850 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 4 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4865 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Tim Lichty |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Diego |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92109 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | John Collins |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | San Diego |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92106 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAEN |
| Departure City | Kenai |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 5 2005 7:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHC |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |