Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kenai, Alaska 99611
Friday, July 30, 2004 18:15 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot was transporting friends to an unimproved airstrip on a riverbank to go fishing. A pilot, who had landed his airplane at the airstrip earlier, reported that the accident airplane made two slow passes over the landing area in opposite directions, about 2 feet above the ground. The witness said on the second pass he noticed that the right engine cowl was unsecured. He said the airplane had a tailwind, and that during the initial climb after the pass, the airplane started a turn to the right. He said "the upper wing stalled," the airplane inverted, and "went vertical into the ground." The airplane impacted the terrain approximately 60 degrees nose down. The four occupants of the airplane were fatally injured. The wings and fuselage of the airplane sustained extensive structural damage. Pilots in the area said they heard the pilot making routine position calls in the airstrip's pattern on the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). A video, made by the right front seat passenger, confirmed that the right engine cowl came open during the flight to the airstrip, and that the pilot did not appear overly concerned. The airplane's owner said there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident flight. An approximate weight and balance calculation indicated that the airplane was at or near maximum gross weight, and the center of gravity was at or near the aft limit at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed (Vs) while maneuvering, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and loss of control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/30/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1815 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Kenai |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99611 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 604626N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1515408W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| 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 | 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) | 18154 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Anchorage, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 30 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1934 |
| 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 | N2269D |
| NTSB Number | ANC04FA084 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 170B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20421 |
| 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 | Oct 10 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 23 |
| Airframe Hours | 3332 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Tom Toopalik |
| 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 | Christopher Copple |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAEN |
| Departure City | Kenai |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Kenai |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 5 2005 8:09PM |
| 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 | -- |