NORTHWAY, AK, USA
N31670
PIPER PA-28-181
THE PILOT WAS TOLD DURING THE WEATHER BRIEFING THAT THE WEATHER CONDITIONS WOULD BE MARGINAL ALL DAY. DURING THE FLIGHT HE ENCOUNTERED INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS. HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO REVERSE COURSE AND CLIMB AND TRANSITION TO INSTRUMENT FLIGHT RULES. THE PILOT STATED THAT HE WAS NOT WATCHING OUTSIDE OF THE AIRPLANE WHILE MAKING HIS TURN AND ATTEMPTING TO CLIMB. THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE TREETOPS AT 5300 FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL.
On August 21, 1994, at 1230 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-28-181 airplane, N31670, registered to and operated by the pilot, crashed into trees 40 nautical miles southeast of Northway, Alaska. The personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Juneau, Alaska, on a VFR flight plan. The destination was Northway with an intermediate stop at Chisana, Alaska. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed. The pilot received serious injuries and the passenger was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. According to the passenger, the weather was deteriorating as their flight progressed and "they ran out of sky." According to the pilot, the ceiling was at 6500 feet above mean sea level (msl) in the vicinity of White River. He intended to fly up Beaver Creek but the weather was poor. He continued along the "edge of the mountains," toward the Chisana River. He began circling because the weather would not allow him to continue. He started one more circling maneuver while climbing and he began to transition to instrument flight rules. The last thing he remembered was that he had approximately 80 degrees more of turn to complete and adding throttle to increase power. He stated he was not watching outside the airplane as they approached a ridge and he struck the top of a tree. The altimeter read approximately 5300 feet msl. According to the transcripts provided by the Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Evaluations Division, the pilot received a briefing from Juneau Flight Service. The pilot was told the weather was better in the vicinity of Northway, but that there were airmets out for occasional IFR conditions and mountain obscuration for both the Northway area and Juneau, Haines, and the canal area. The Northway terminal forecast called for 1200 scattered, ceilings 2500 broken, light rain, wind 300 at fifteen, occasionally 1200 overcast, visibility 5 miles with light rain and fog. He was told the weather would be marginal all day. There were no pilot reports available.
THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE EVALUATION OF THE WEATHER AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN VISUAL LOOKOUT DURING THE MANEUVER. FACTORS WERE THE LOW CEILINGS AND OBSCURATION.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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