Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Willow, Alaska 99688
Friday, July 16, 2004 21:45 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private certificated pilot was returning from a round-robin VFR personal flight with three passengers. The flight was paralleling a rural highway, and was observed by a witness about 30 feet above the trees, southbound on the west side of the highway. The nose of the airplane appeared "slightly up." It then made a smooth right turn, about 180 degrees toward the north, nosed down about 45 degrees, and descended from view into the trees. Another witness reported that she observed the airplane northbound at a low altitude on the west side of the highway. The airplane appeared to be making a right banking turn, and then nosed down toward the trees. The airplane began a 3/4 spiral turn downward and disappeared into the trees. An on-site investigation disclosed that the airplane collided with several trees, and then struck soft ground in about a 45 degree nose down attitude. The cabin floor was oriented about 45 degrees to the right. Numerous broken tree limbs were observed about 50 feet above the impact site. The empennage was separated from the main fuselage about the forward attach point of the vertical stabilizer, and was located about 20 feet north of the main impact site. An examination of the engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall while maneuvering, and a collision with trees and terrain during an uncontrolled descent.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/16/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 2145 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Willow |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99688 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 615603N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1500432W |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2153 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 335 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PATK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 358 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 158 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17652 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 16 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Al-ANC FSDO 03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4588C |
| NTSB Number | ANC04FA080 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 170B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25532 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2200 |
| 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 | Sep 27 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 185 |
| Airframe Hours | 5198 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert C. Toney |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Anchorage |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99504 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PATK |
| Departure City | Talkeetna |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 2115 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAMR |
| Destination City | Anchorage |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |