Engine Appeared Not To Have Been Producing Full Takeoff Power

Location: Wasilla, AK Accident Number: ANC24FA092
Date & Time: September 14, 2024, 09:30 Local Registration: N1202Y
Aircraft: Jon Bergstedt JP Flyer Injuries: 1 Fatal
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal

On September 14, 2024, at 0930 Alaska daylight time, an experimental amateur-built, JP Flyer, N1202Y, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Wasilla, Alaska. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulation Part 91 personal flight.

According to a close friend, the accident pilot rebuilt the airplane, which originated as a Piper PA-12 airplane at his home in Anchorage, Alaska, and transported it to Anderson Lake Airport (0AK1) to be assembled in the friend’s hangar. The accident flight was the pilot’s first flight in the airplane after completing an extensive rebuild, which included, in part, the  installation of high-performance wing flaps, wing slats, propeller, and modified engine ignition components. 

Various witnesses at the airport reported that as the airplane began its initial takeoff roll on Runway 8, the engine appeared not to have been producing full takeoff power, and they initially thought that the pilot would abort the takeoff, but the airplane unexpectedly became airborne and started a shallow climb. As the airplane continued the shallow climb, witnesses reported hearing the engine lose power and it descended behind a stand of trees at the departure end of the runway.

The airplane continued to descend into a residential neighborhood about ¼ mile east of the airport, and it subsequently impacted a paved residential roadway, in a near-vertical, nose down attitude. A postimpact fire immediately ensued, which incinerated a large portion of the airplane wreckage. 

An initial National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on-scene wreckage examination revealed that all major components of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site. The pilot was not in communication with air traffic control at the time of the accident, and there were no known distress calls received from the airplane. 

The airplane and engine were recovered for further examination. 

FMI: www.ntsb.gov