Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Nenana, Alaska 99760
Saturday, September 25, 2004 14:00 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The commercial pilot was taking off from a lake in the float-equipped airplane when the engine lost power for an undetermined reason. The airplane descended rapidly and landed hard on the water, sustaining structural damage to the fuselage. Postaccident inspection of the engine disclosed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power during takeoff-initial climb for an undetermined reason, which resulted in an emergency descent and hard landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/25/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone --
Event City Nenana
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99760
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 643900N
Event Location Longitude 1491000W
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 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) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 4
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 180
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) 500
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 17849
NTSB Notification Source FAA Anchorage, ROC
NTSB Notification Date Oct 4 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 815
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 7 2005 10:33AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fairbanks, FSDO-01

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4409M
NTSB Number ANC04LA120
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-12
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 12-3361
Certified Max Gross Weight 1500
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 30
Airframe Hours 2698
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Don Button
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 --
Departure City Nenana
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code FAI
Destination City Fairbanks
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 4 2005 3:09PM
User who most recently changed record PETL
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --