Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Whittier, Alaska 99693
Saturday, July 2, 2005 21:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial certificated pilot departed on a Title 14, CFR Part 91 personal flight in an area of coastal shoreline and glaciers in a wheel-equipped airplane that did not have any navigational equipment, other than a magnetic compass. The pilot said that during the flight, the compass became erratic and was not providing accurate information. The pilot indicated that he attempted to find his location, but was unable to accurately fix his position. He made several radio calls on a variety of frequencies, and finally made radio contact with an FAA flight service station as he was circling over a beach under about a 500 foot ceiling. He reported that he was lost, and the airplane had minimum fuel. A Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched to the area and located the airplane about 17 miles from an airport. The two aircraft flew toward the airport, but the airplane's engine quit when the fuel supply was exhausted. The pilot made an emergency landing in a partial clearing that contained small trees, and the airplane received structural damage to the wings and fuselage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's becoming lost/disoriented while maneuvering due to inadequate in-flight planning/decision making, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and a forced landing in tree-covered terrain. A factor contributing to the accident was fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/2/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 2100 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Whittier |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99693 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 604800N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1482900W |
| 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 | 2047 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAWR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 30 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.73 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18869 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 2 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| 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 | N8626V |
| NTSB Number | ANC05LA094 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 7GCAA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 312-75 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Alaska Star Flying Club LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 19926 War Admiral Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Eagle River |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99577 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Matthew L. Gallagher |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Anchorage |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99518 |
| 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 | PABV |
| Departure City | Chugiak |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AQY |
| Destination City | Girdwood |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 26 2005 2:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |