Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Merrill Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Anchorage, Alaska 99508
Saturday, August 24, 2013 15:36 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The accident airplane was number two to land behind another airplane that was on final approach to the same runway. As the accident airplane neared the runway threshold, the air traffic control tower (ATCT) controller instructed the accident pilot to go around because the first airplane was still on the runway. The ATCT controller reported that despite two subsequent requests for the pilot to go around, the pilot did not acknowledge the requests, but the airplane stopped descending, and it continued to fly over the runway. Multiple witnesses located at and around the airport reported seeing the accident airplane flying about 100 feet above the runway in a nose-high attitude. As the airplane continued over the departure end of the runway, witnesses reported hearing the engine lose power, which was followed by a steep left turn back toward the airport. During the turn, the airplane’s nose pitched down abruptly, and the airplane collided with the ground in a steep, nose-down attitude near the departure end of the runway. The airplane was equipped with two 19-gallon wing-mounted fuel tanks, of which 1.5 gallons of fuel in each tank is unusable. An on-scene wreckage examination revealed that about 1.8 gallons of fuel was removed from the right wing fuel tank, and about 1 quart of fuel was removed from the left wing fuel tank. Both fuel tanks were intact and not breached. The left wing fuel tank was equipped with a fuel vent line on the forward outboard area of the fuel tank. When comparing the final at-rest attitude of the airframe and wings, it is likely that the fuel within the left wing fuel tank was equivalent to the right wing fuel tank level; however, fuel would have drained from the left wing fuel tank through the vent line, thus resulting in a lower fuel level in the left wing fuel tank at the accident site. A subsequent postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation. Given the lack of mechanical deficiencies with the airplane, the amount of fuel discovered in the airplane’s fuel tanks, and the witness statements, it is likely that the fuel tank inlets became unported when the airplane entered the nose-high attitude during the go-around, which resulted in fuel starvation. The pilot’s decision to return to the airport by initiating a turn at low altitude and low airspeed following the loss the of engine power resulted in an aerodynamic stall and a loss of control with insufficient altitude to recover.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of a low fuel state and a nose-high attitude during a go-around, which unported the fuel tank feed line, and the pilot's decision to make a low-altitude turn back to the airport, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of control.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/24/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1536 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Anchorage |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99508 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 611257N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1495122W |
| Event Location Airport | Merrill Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAMR |
| 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 | 137 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 AKD |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAMR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 137 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AKD |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.64 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR PAMR 242353Z VRB03KT 10SM CLR 21/09 A2964 RM |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33324 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2014 4:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N18699 |
| NTSB Number | ANC13FA084 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 150L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15074051 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LILLY ROBERT W |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BIG LAKE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99652-1224 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | LILLY ROBERT W |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BIG LAKE |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99652-1224 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Wasilla |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1515 |
| Departure Time Zone | AKD |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PAMR |
| Destination City | Anchorage |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2014 4:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 4000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |