PORT ALSWORTH, AK, USA
N4368M
Cessna 170B
The solo student pilot was on a cross country training flight. He stated that the airplane had been experiencing symptoms of carburetor ice, so he decided execute an off airport landing on a ridgetop gravel landing site to inspect the engine. The winds were light and variable. After landing, the tires hit a rut, he applied brakes, and the airplane nosed over. He indicated that fuel ran out of the tank vent, located just above the windscreen, and down over the engine. The airplane caught fire and was destroyed. The Emergency Locator Transmitter was consumed in the fire, and he was rescued the following day.
On September 5, 1998, about 1500 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 170B airplane, N4368M, was destroyed when it nosed over during landing at an off airport landing site 40 miles northwest of Port Alsworth, Alaska. The solo student pilot was not injured. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a student solo cross country training flight. The flight departed from Nikiski, Alaska, about 1130, for Port Alsworth. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge during a telephone interview on September 9, that during the flight he encountered repeated episodes of carburetor icing, which cleared up with application of carburetor heat. He decided to land on a ridgetop off airport landing site to inspect the airplane's carburetor heat control, and drain some fuel. The pilot reported winds to be light and variable. During taxi after landing, the airplane's tires struck a rut, the pilot applied brakes, and the airplane nosed over. Fuel ran out of the fuel tank vents onto the engine, and the airplane immediately caught fire. The fire destroyed the airplane. The pilot indicated that he retrieved some survival equipment from the airplane before it was consumed, but was unable to reach the Emergency Locator Transmitter. The following day he saw some hunters, who ferried him to Port Alsworth.
The solo student pilot's excessive application of brakes during taxi from landing. Factors associated with the accident were the pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for a precautionary landing, rough terrain, and the fuel leak from the fuel tank vent.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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