SLEETMUTE, AK, USA
N82905
Piper PA-18
During takeoff from an off airport ridgetop landing area, the airplane struck a two inch diameter, four feet tall bush. The pilot said he smelled fuel, and the engine quit. The pilot made a forced landing into trees below the ridge, damaging the right landing gear mount. The engine gascolator separated from the airplane, and was found next to the first bush which the airplane impacted.
On August 20, 1999, about 1430 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped, Piper PA-18, N82905, sustained substantial damage when it collided with terrain after takeoff from an off airport site about 45 miles south-southeast of Sleetmute, Alaska, at 60 degrees 58 minutes north latitude, 157 degrees 22 minutes west longitude. The commercial pilot sustained minor injuries, and the one passenger on board was not injured. The airplane was operated under 14 CFR Part 91 by Restoration Through Recreation - Alaskan Adventures, of Rocklin, California, in support of the owner's hunting-guide business. The flight was departing a ridgetop landing area for the guide's camp on the Hoholitna River, Alaska. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed. During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 23, the pilot stated that during the takeoff, the airplane struck a two inch diameter, four feet tall bush. He indicated he smelled fuel, and the engine quit. The pilot made a forced landing into trees below the ridge, damaging the right landing gear mount. The engine gascolator separated from the airplane, and was found next to the first bush which the airplane impacted.
The pilot's selection of an unsuitable takeoff area, which resulted in the airplane colliding with vegetation, knocking the gascolator off the airplane, and fuel starvation of the engine.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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