Belite Chipper Down In Alaska | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-02.03.25

Airborne-NextGen-02.04.25

Airborne-Unlimited-02.05.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-02.06.25

Airborne-Unlimited-02.07.25

Sat, May 26, 2018

Belite Chipper Down In Alaska

Pilot And Builder Jim Wiebe Suffered Only Minor Injuries

The Belite Chipper has gone down in Anchorage, AK in an accident that pilot and builder Jim Wiebe attributes to likely fuel starvation.

Wiebe has been touring his latest airplane, a two-place E-AB that he recently upgraded to include metal wings, around the 49th state. Here is how he described the accident in a post on Facebook:

"While in the pattern at Lake Hood, I advised the tower I would go around. About 150 to 200' AGL while climbing out, the engine quit. Lake Hood's strip is very short, and I did not have time to check fuel tanks and restart. I advised tower I was landing, flew the plane towards the remaining runway for 2 or 3 seconds, then advised the tower I would not stop in the remaining runway. Impossible. Way too much speed.

"I touched down at the (wrong) end of the runway, immediately bounced high, then thought perhaps I could clear the chain link fence.

"I couldn't. Chipper's landing gear collided with the top of the fence, and went OVER the fence, and about 30 feet later, hit the marsh nose down, (immediate STOP), then rolled onto its back.

"In my mind, I can recall the violent snap as my body went taught in milliseconds against the seat belt and shoulder harness.

"A fraction of a second later, I'm hanging upside down.

"I think I turned off the master electrical, also I tried to turn off the fuel selector. (The NTSB investigator showed me a photo which shows that the selector was not in the off position, although it was sort, of, close.)

"I was then upside down, hanging, trying to get the seat belt off.

"Couldn't get it. Too much weight.

"Realized that there were liquids around. Gasoline?

"Tried some more on the seatbelt. Couldn't get it.

"I had the epiphany that if I could release my body weight somehow, the latch would move. I did that, and I plopped down.

"Then I pushed on the door, it was stuck closed.

"I remember applying additional pressure, and it popped open, and I fell to the ceiling of Chipper, and I crawled half out.

"A moment later, 2 or 3 guys ran up, ready to help, ready to rescue.

"And I got up, and walked out of the marsh with them."

Wiebe said in the post that Chipper has five fuel tanks. "I am essentially unharmed. I have some very minor scratches. My upper shins hit the bottom of the instrument panel. My lack of bodily harm is a testament to the honeycomb cabin structure," Wiebe wrote.

Wiebe said that the wreckage was being retained by the NTSB for further investigation.

(Image provided by Jim Wiebe via Facebook)

FMI: Facebook Post

Advertisement

More News

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (02.09.25)

“We are very pleased to enter into this MoU agreement with Gogo, especially as we aim to offer our Airbus ACJ operators and business leaders the highest standard connectivity>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (02.09.25)

Aero Linx: Rhode Island Pilots Association (RIPA) The Rhode Island Pilots Association represents the GA community based at seven airports in the State of Rhode Island. Our mission >[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 02.06.25: AeroEducate, Mil KingAirs, PilotWorkshops

Also: Lufthansa Dreamliner Sim, ATC Can't Quit, NBAA Leadership, Acting FAA Head ierra Space is becoming the newest content provider for EAA’s AeroEducate online resource and>[...]

Airborne 02.05.25: No Outs 4 ATC, Sporty's Acquires, 'Black' Boxes

Also: NOTAM System Restored, Textron Mil Trainers, Axiom Space, Police Rescues Cirrus Pax The Trump administration’s attempt at downsizing the federal workforce has run into >[...]

Airborne 02.03.25: Drone Pilot Bust, New Acting FAA Boss, PNE Lear Accident

Also: 2 Blimps For OSH, USCG-Airbus Deal, Japan Buys T-6s, Starliner Boss Replaced A 56-year-old California man recently pled guilty after he flew his drone into a Super Scooper fi>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC