Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Koliganek, Alaska 99576
Saturday, September 4, 2004 13:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot and one passenger departed on a cross-country personal flight in a tundra tire-equipped airplane to go hunting. According to a friend, prior to departure, the pilot added fuel to both of the airplane's 19-gallon wing fuel tanks, and filled three containers with a total of 15 gallons of fuel. He placed the fuel containers in the rear cargo compartment, along with a tent, rifles, ammunition, a cook stove, and other camping items. The pilot-rated passenger's most recent third-class medical certificate listed his weight as 245 lbs. Following the accident, a passing pilot noted a plume of smoke and located the accident airplane nose down in the tundra, fully engulfed in fire. The airplane wreckage came to rest in a near vertical attitude, about one-quarter of a mile from a slightly elevated plateau located to the northwest of the accident site, commonly used as a landing site by pilots with tundra-tire equipped airplanes. Postaccident investigation revealed that the estimated gross weight of the airplane at takeoff was 1,912 pounds, 162 pounds in excess of the airplane's maximum takeoff gross weight. Due to extensive fire damage, the airplane's weight and center of gravity at the time of the accident could not be determined. Examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while on approach to land, which resulted in an inadvertent stall and an uncontrolled descent.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Koliganek |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99576 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 595445N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1570045W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ILI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 186 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 65 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 320 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18156 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ANC FAA, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 4 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| 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 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2899M |
| NTSB Number | ANC04FA102 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12-1320 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4795.2 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ryan D. Hoerner |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1020 Eastman Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bigfork |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59911 |
| 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 | ILI |
| Departure City | Iliamna |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Koliganek |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| 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 | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |