Iliamna Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Iliamna, Alaska 99606
Tuesady, June 24, 2008 9:45 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot departed a remote area about 20 miles west of his intended destination airport. At that time, the airplane had about 6 gallons of fuel in the left wing fuel tank, and the right wing fuel tank was nearly empty. As the flight approached the airport, the engine began to sputter and lose power. He switched to the right tank, but it ran for only a few seconds, and the engine sputtered. He switched back to the left fuel tank, but the engine continued to sputter, and the airplane lost altitude. He selected a road as a forced landing spot, but was unable to reach the road. The airplane collided with a tree and tundra, about 1.5 miles short of the airport. The pilot said that after the collision, the engine was still running, and he shut it down. The airplane received structural damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot indicated that after the accident, the left fuel tank was still showing about 4 gallons in the left wing tank sight gauge. Recovery personnel reported that they drained about 5 gallons from the left tank during retrieval of the airplane.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power for an undetermined reason during an approach for landing, which resulted in a forced landing and collision with terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/24/2008
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 945
Event Time Zone --
Event City Iliamna
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99606
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 594514N
Event Location Longitude 1545440W
Event Location Airport Iliamna
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PAIL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 1.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 192
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 953 Atlantic Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 70
Weather Observation Facility ID PAIL
Elevation of weather observation facility 192
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation ADT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 90
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 18
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 24
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.81
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) 24654
NTSB Notification Source FAA Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Jun 24 2008 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 6 2008 5:09PM
User who most recently changed record labj
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA-AL-ANC-FSDO 03

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3236P
NTSB Number ANC08LA078
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 PIPER
Aircraft Model PA-18-150
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18-6766
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 Jun 2 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3488
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name MITCHELL S. JOLIN
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City EAGLE RIVER
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99577-8282
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Mitchell S. Jolin
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Eagle River
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99557
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 --
Departure City Tularik Creek
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 915
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PAIL
Destination City Iliamna
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Approach - VFR pattern - final approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 30 2008 5:06PM
User who most recently changed record eris
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --