History of Flight
On August 4, 2019, at about 1627 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA22-150, registration N7402D, was destroyed when it collided with terrain approximately 5 miles north of Girdwood Airport (AQY) in Girdwood, Alaska. The pilot and three passengers sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was privately owned by one of the passengers and operated by the airline transport pilot (ATP) under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which departed AQY around 1615.
A friend of the airplane owner reported that the owner, who held a student pilot certificate, had been conversing via text message on the day of the accident. The owner indicated that he and the pilot had been drinking alcoholic beverages but stated he would not be flying and would be a passenger. The flight's purpose was a short 15-20-minute sightseeing trip over the Girdwood area, which includes remote, steep, mountainous terrain ranging from sea level to about 7,000 ft within the Chugach Mountain Range.
Multiple witnesses observed the airplane flying parallel to a mountain ridge before it turned north and began a descent. The airplane disappeared from view, and witnesses then saw a plume of black smoke. One witness saw the airplane performing aggressive maneuvers earlier in the flight, approaching a ridge, pitching up, and entering a steep climb before disappearing. No witnesses reported unusual sounds from the aircraft.
Personnel Information
The pilot, age 31, held an airline transport pilot certificate with a rotorcraft-helicopter rating, along with commercial pilot privileges for airplane single-engine and multi-engine land and instrument airplane. He also held a flight instructor certificate with multiple ratings. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on February 26, 2019, with a requirement to wear corrective lenses. On the application, he reported 2,700 total flight hours, with 40 hours in the previous 6 months. Some personal flight records were located but were incomplete.
Aircraft Information
The airplane was manufactured in 1957 and powered by a Lycoming O-320 A1A engine rated at 150 horsepower. The most recent annual inspection of airframe and engine was completed on September 17, 2018, when the airframe had 3,175 total hours and the engine had 1,336 hours since overhaul.
Meteorological Information
The closest official weather observation station, located about 22 miles southeast at Portage Glacier, Whittier, Alaska, reported at 1653: wind from 080° at 7 knots gusting to 15 knots; 10 statute miles visibility; overcast clouds at 6,000 ft above ground level; temperature 70°F; dew point 57°F; altimeter setting 30.14 inches of mercury.
Wreckage and Impact
The remote accident site was on the south face of Goat Mountain in steep, mountainous terrain. The airplane impacted about 15 ft below the top of a rock-faced ridgeline at approximately 5,512 ft mean sea level (msl) and came to rest inverted on a narrow rock shelf at about 5,437 ft msl. The wreckage was largely consumed by postcrash fire, with small fragments located on the opposite side of the ridge.
The airplane was not recovered and could not be examined. Photographs from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group and Alaska State Troopers showed that both wings and their control surfaces were destroyed by fire, with only parts of the wing spars remaining. The cockpit, fuselage, and empennage exhibited extensive thermal damage, and control continuity could not be verified. The engine had extensive impact and thermal damage. The propeller separated from the crankshaft; one blade exhibited torsional "S" twisting and aft bending about 12 inches from the tip, and the other blade showed significant torsional "S" twisting and buckling on the trailing edge.
Additional Information
Weight and balance were estimated using the pilot's weight from his most recent FAA medical (180 lbs) and passenger weights from government records (200 lbs front seat, 300 lbs combined rear seat). According to a friend, the airplane was fueled about a week and a half before the accident and had not been flown since. Accounting for fuel burned during the accident flight, estimated fuel onboard was 34 gallons (204 lbs). Oil weighed about 15 lbs.
The last documented weight and balance from November 1, 2014, showed a basic empty weight of 1,149.3 lbs with a center of gravity (CG) of 13.43 inches. Using these values, the gross weight at the time of the accident was about 2,048.3 lbs, exceeding the maximum takeoff gross weight of 2,000 lbs by 48.3 lbs. The estimated CG was 20.79 inches, within the CG range at maximum gross weight of 17.5 to 23.0 inches.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy of the pilot performed by the Alaska State Medical Examiner attributed the cause of death to multiple blunt deceleration-type injuries. Postmortem toxicology testing of the pilot's femoral blood was positive for ethanol at 0.226 grams per deciliter (gm/dl). Additional testing detected ethanol in cavity blood at 0.252 gm/dl and in vitreous fluid at 0.238 gm/dl; methanol was detected in cavity blood and vitreous fluid in amounts too low to quantify.
Toxicology testing of the student pilot/passenger detected ethanol in vitreous fluid at 0.058 gm/dl and in brain and muscle at 0.055 and 0.038 grams per hectogram, respectively.
The report discusses ethanol as a central nervous system depressant that impairs judgment, psychomotor functioning, and vigilance, noting that Title 14 CFR 91.17(a) prohibits acting as crewmember with 0.040 gm/dl or more ethanol in the blood. It also describes postmortem ethanol production and effects at various concentrations.