Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Deadhorse, Alaska 99734
Saturday, August 5, 2006 16:30 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The solo commercial pilot was landing at a remote off-airport site under Title 14, CFR Part 91. Prior to the accident flight, the pilot hiked about 1 mile to the accident airplane to disassemble a previous camp site, load the camp items into the airplane, then reposition the airplane closer to where he had shot a caribou earlier that day. A witness stated that the pilot made a series of low passes over his intended landing site. During the accident approach, while the airplane was about 100 feet agl, the airplane nosed down and collided with the ground in a near vertical attitude. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot noted in his written statement to the NTSB that the last thing he can recall was while he was on final approach to the site, but he has no recollection of the accident. He also noted that there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed while on approach to land, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent and collision with terrain. A factor contributing to the accident was an inadvertent stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/5/2006
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone --
Event City Deadhorse
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99734
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 685857N
Event Location Longitude 1494353W
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 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 10000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21258
NTSB Notification Source ANC FAA, ROC
NTSB Notification Date Aug 6 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 25 2007 2:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fairbanks FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3546P
NTSB Number ANC06LA107
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-22-150
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 22-3302
Certified Max Gross Weight 1950
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 --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Howard A. Tieden
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Anchorage
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99518
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 Deadhorse
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1620
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Deadhorse
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 6 2007 12:03PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --