Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Mcgrath Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mcgrath, Alaska 99627
Sunday, September 4, 2011 15:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was on short final approach to the airport when its engine would not respond to throttle input. The airplane descended into trees and impacted terrain. The pilot reported that immediately prior to the loss of engine power, he had made an elevator trim control adjustment and was in the process of making a throttle adjustment when he heard a snap and the engine quit operating, "as if the magnetos had been shut off." Examination of the airplane established that the throttle cable was intact. The engine was run, and no anomalies were noted. During the engine run, the magneto switches were turned off while the engine was at cruise rpm. The switches made an audible click/snap when turned off. Following a similar August 29, 2011, accident also involving a Piper PA-18 airplane, the pilot reported that, during the initial climb, he inadvertently switched off the engine magnetos with his coat sleeve while using the trim handle, causing the airplane’s engine to shut down. As with this accident airplane, the magneto switches were located on the left side of the cabin, just above the trim handle. As a result of incidents involving the inadvertent shutting off of the magneto switches, the Federal Aviation Administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking announcing its intent to issue an airworthiness directive requiring the reconfiguration of the magneto switches on Piper PA-18 airplanes. Given the absence of any mechanical issues with the airplane, as well as the location of the magneto switches and the trim handle, it is likely the pilot inadvertently shut off the magnetos switches while trimming the airplane on short final approach.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot inadvertently switched off the engine magnetos during short final approach, which resulted in a loss of engine power. Contributing to the accident was the manufacturer's placement of the magneto switches in the cabin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | McGrath |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99627 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 625710N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1553625W |
| Event Location Airport | McGrath |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAMC |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 341 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAMG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 341 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| 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) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.26 |
| 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) | 30650 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Anchorage |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2012 12:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N13973 |
| NTSB Number | ANC11FA093 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| 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 | 18-8985 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1364 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RICHARDSON JAMES K |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | MC GRATH |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99627 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | RICHARDSON JAMES K |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | MC GRATH |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99627 |
| 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 | Kingston Creek |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PAMC |
| Destination City | McGrath |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2012 12:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 05 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |