Aircraft Reportedly Sank In Lake Clark With Four People On Board

The NTSB has released a preliminary report from an accident in Alaska that resulted in the presumed fatal injury of four people aboard a Piper PA-28 180 when it went down in Lake Clark on December 7th.

But because the aircraft has not yet been recovered, a full investigation of the accident has been delayed pending recovery of the aircraft.

According to the report, the plane is presumed to have sustained substantial damage during impact with the open waters of Lake Clark shortly after takeoff from the Port Alsworth Airport, Port Alsworth, Alaska. Of the four occupants on board, the non-instrument rated private pilot and three passengers are presumed to have sustained fatal injuries, and all remain missing.

At the time of the accident instrument meteorological conditions were reported in the area. The airplane was registered to a private individual in Port Alsworth, and it had recently been rented to the accident pilot for the 14 CFR Part 91 visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the airplane's point of departure, but reduced visibility conditions were reported along the flight's anticipated flight route, including low-lying ice fog over Lake Clark. The accident flight originated at the Port Alsworth Airport, Port Alsworth, about 0930, en route to the Merrill Field Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, the flight's final destination for the day. No flight plan was filed for the flight.

According to the owner, the missing airplane was equipped with a 406 MHz emergency transmitter locator (ELT), but no signal was received by search personnel. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chief on December 8, a family friend of both the pilot and passengers reported that four family members were originally scheduled to fly to Anchorage on a scheduled air carrier on the day of the accident. The friend explained that on the morning of the accident, three of the four passengers canceled their reservations on the scheduled air carrier, and they elected to fly to Anchorage with the accident pilot instead, while the other family member departed for Anchorage aboard the scheduled air carrier's flight.

When the airplane failed to arrive in Anchorage, concerned family members and friends of the passengers called the NTSB's Alaska Regional Office to report the airplane overdue.

Consequently, an alert notice was issued by the FAA on December 7, at 1501, and an extensive search was launched. Search operations were conducted by personnel from the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska State Troopers, Civil Air Patrol, as well as many Good Samaritan pilots.

On December 8, about 1530, searchers located personal items floating in Lake Clark that were later positively identified as belonging to the missing occupants. Also recovered were three airplane landing gear wheel assemblies, a co-pilot (right side) seat, as well as cargo from the missing airplane. The rest of the airplane has not yet been located, and it is presumed to have sunk in the deep waters of Lake Clark.

The official search was suspended by the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve and the Alaska State Troopers on December 12, 2016. Family friends and volunteers continued to search for the missing airplane.

The closest weather reporting facility was at the Iliamna Airport, Iliamna, Alaska, about 32 miles south-southwest of the Port Alsworth Airport. At 0953, a weather observation from the Iliamna Airport was reporting, in part: Wind, 360 degrees (true) at 16 knots with gusts to 22 knots; visibility, 10 statute miles; cloud and sky conditions, 1,200 feet overcast; temperature, 3 degrees F; dew point, 1 degrees F; altimeter, 30.16 inHg.

A pilot operating in the area at the time the airplane disappeared reported speaking with the accident pilot during the descent phase of his flight from Anchorage to Port Alsworth. He stated that he spoke with the accident pilot a couple minutes after the pilot departed the Port Alsworth Airport and he told him the tops of the clouds were about 2,000 feet and from his perspective, it looked open at Miller Valley. The accident pilot replied "looking good under here, I'm gonna keep going." No further radio transmissions were received from the accident pilot.

The airplane was equipped with a Lycoming O-360 series engine.

A detailed wreckage and engine examination is pending recovery of the airplane.

(Image from file. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov