Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
Docket And Docket Items - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms
Aviation Accident Data Summary - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf
NTSB Identification: ANC16FA001
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, October 08, 2015 in Big Lake, AK
Probable Cause Approval Date: 01/31/2017
Aircraft: CESSNA 150F, registration: N7064
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
The solo pilot departed from a gravel-covered airstrip. Witnesses reported that they saw the airplane make a left, 270-degree turn and eventually overfly the departure end of the airstrip. The airplane then climbed to about 300 ft above ground level, flew in a southeasterly direction over a nearby house, then began a climbing left turn. Witnesses said that the airplane pitched up, the left wing dropped, and the airplane descended vertically, nose first, disappearing behind a stand of tall trees. The airplane subsequently collided with a paved, rural roadway. A postcrash fire incinerated a large portion of the airplane’s cockpit, left wing, and fuselage. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Given the lack of mechanical deficiencies with the airplane and engine, the witness statements, and the nature of the damage to the airplane, it is likely that the pilot inadvertently exceeded the airplane’s critical angle-of-attack while maneuvering at a low altitude, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and a loss of control.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle-of-attack while maneuvering, which resulted in a stall at too low an altitude to allow recovery.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On October 8, 2015, about 1340 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 150F airplane, N7064, sustained substantial damage following an in-flight loss of control and subsequent collision with a rural road, shortly after departing from the Cubdivision Airport, Big Lake, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions were reported in the area of the accident; no flight plan had been filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and was en route to the Big Lake Airport, which is about 3 miles south of the Cubdivision Airport.
According to witnesses, the pilot had departed from the Big Lake Airport on the morning of the accident, arriving at the Cubdivision Airport, a 1,200-long by 100-foot-wide private gravel-covered airstrip, about 1230.
About 1340, witnesses watched as the accident airplane departed to the north on runway 04. The witnesses reported that just after takeoff, the airplane made a left climbing 270-degree turn, and it eventually flew crosswind over the departure end of the runway. When the airplane reached about 300 feet above ground level (agl), the climb shallowed slightly as it passed over a workshop and a house located on the airstrip. As the airplane flew in a southeasterly direction, and away from the airport, witnesses reported that the airplane began another climbing left turn. During the turn, the airplane rolled to the left, then it descended vertically, nose first, and it subsequently descended behind a stand of tall trees and out of sight of the witnesses.
The airplane subsequently collided with a paved, rural roadway. A postcrash fire incinerated a large portion of the airplane's cockpit, left wing, and fuselage.
PERSONNEL INFORMATION
The pilot, age 23, held a commercial pilot certificate with an airplane single and multi-engine land rating. His most recent second-class airman medical certificate was issued on February 26, 2015, with the limitation that he must wear corrective lenses. According to his logbook, the pilot had about 933 total flight hours.
The pilot was flying a Cessna 172 professionally; the accident flight was his second flight in his personally owned Cessna 150 after returning home from a two-week duty rotation in Bethel, Alaska.
AIRCRAFT INFORMATION
The Cessna 150F is a two-seat, high-wing, tricycle landing gear-equipped airplane. A Continental Motors O-200 engine, rated at 100 horsepower, powered it.
At the time of the accident, the airplane was equipped with a Sensenich, fixed-pitch propeller. However, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) review of the accident airplane's maintenance logbooks revealed that, on May 12, 2015, a McCauley fixed-pitch propeller had been installed, and there was no logbook entry for the installation Sensenich fixed-pitch propeller. According to family members and friends of the pilot, a different propeller had been temporally installed on the airplane while the pilot was waiting for a new propeller to arrive. The new propeller was scheduled to be installed the day after the accident.
According to maintenance records, the last inspection performed on the airplane was an annual inspection dated May 4, 2015. At that time, the airframe had accumulated 3,806.55 total flight hours. The engine had accrued 1,434.2 flight hours since overhaul.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
The closest weather reporting facility was Wasilla, about 9 miles east of the accident site. At 1336, an aviation routine weather report (METAR) was reporting, in part: Wind 060 degrees at 13 knots with gusts to 19 knots; visibility, 10 statute miles; clouds and sky condition, overcast at 12,000 feet; temperature, 55 degrees F; dew point, 34 degrees F; altimeter, 29.30 in Hg.
Pilots flying in the area around the time of the accident reported low-level wind gusts near the accident.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
On October 8, 2015, the NTSB IIC, along with various Alaska State Troopers, and a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation safety inspector from the Anchorage Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), Anchorage, examined the wreckage at the accident site.
The main wreckage was located on a road, at 209 feet mean sea level (msl), at latitude N 61 35.1850 and longitude W 149 48.5249. The airplane impacted the road in a near vertical, nose-down attitude; a post-crash fire consumed the cabin, inboard portion of the left wing, and most the fuselage. All the major components of the airframe and engine were accounted for at the scene.
On October 14, 2015, under the supervision of the NTSB IIC, the wreckage was examined at a private hangar in Wasilla, Alaska. Flight control system cable continuity was established from each control surface to the point of impact and fire-related damage.
The forward wing spar remained intact; both wing struts remained attached at their respective attachment fittings. The outboard portion of the left wing showed torsional twisting from the root to the wingtip, and the wing root was thermally damaged. The right wing displayed aft crushing of the leading edge. Control continuity to the left and right ailerons and elevators was established from the yoke to the control surface. The flap selector was thermally damaged. The flap actuator on the right wing was measured at 0.15 inches, corresponding to a flap retracted position.
The aft portion of the left and right seat rails were attached to the airframe and undamaged, the forward portion of the seat rails were thermally damaged. The nose gear assembly and main gear struts of the fixed tricycle landing gear remained intact and attached. The fuel selector valve was in the on position.
The outer portion of the left horizontal stabilizer was deformed upward, and it was attached at the forward and aft attachment points. The outer portion of the left elevator was impinged on the left horizontal stabilizer due to impact damage. The right horizontal stabilizer and elevator were attached at their respective attachment points and undamaged.
Rudder continuity was established from the rudder pedals to the rudder. The rudder was undamaged, the balance weights for the elevator and rudder were attached.
The Sensenich propeller remained attached to the crankshaft's propeller flange, which separated from the engine. Both blades exhibited torsional twisting toward low pitch, heavy leading edge gouging and deep chord-wise scrapes. The outboard four inches of one of the blades was torn free from the propeller and was not observed.
On November 12, under the supervision of the NTSB IIC, an engine teardown and inspection were conducted at a private hangar in Wasilla, Alaska.
The engine sustained significant thermal and impact-related damage. The carburetor and No. 4 cylinder was fractured and separated from the engine. Teardown of the engine revealed no signs of operational distress or pre-accident anomalies with the internal components.
The mixture and throttle control cables remained attached to their respective control levers, and the throttle valve was in the closed position. The carburetor inlet fuel screen was not obstructed. The floats sustained thermal damage and one was separated from the float clip.
The spark plugs showed signs of normal wear. The left magneto remained attached to the backside of the engine and the right magneto was separated. The right magneto produced spark in each of the distributor towers when the drive shaft was manually rotated. The left magneto sustained significant thermal damage. The left magneto was removed from the engine and the impulse coupling snapped when the drive shaft was manually rotated, but it did not produce a spark on the distributor towers. Internal examination revealed thermal damage to the cam follower and cracking of the distributor block. The cam follower was slightly adjusted to compensate for the thermal deformation and the drive shaft was again rotated. Spark was observed at one of the distributor block towers and at the points during each snap of the impulse coupling.
Rotational scoring was observed on the interior of the vacuum pump housing.
The NTSB's postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
A postmortem examination was conducted under the authority of the Alaska State Medical Examiner, Anchorage, Alaska, on October 9, 2015. The cause of death for the pilot was attributed to blunt force, traumatic injuries.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Civil Aeromedical Institute performed toxicology examinations for the pilot on November 20, 2015, which was negative for carbon monoxide, drugs, and ethanol.
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, October 08, 2015 in Big Lake, AK
Aircraft: CESSNA 150F, registration: N7064
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On October 8, 2015, about 1340 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 150F airplane, N7064, sustained substantial damage following an in-flight loss of control and subsequent collision with a rural road, shortly after departing from the Cubdivision Airport, Big Lake, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, sustained fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions were reported in the area of the accident; no flight plan had been filed.
According to witnesses and family friends, the pilot had departed from the Big Lake Airport on the morning of the accident, arriving at Cubdivision Airport, a 1,200-long by 100-foot-wide private gravel-covered airstrip, about 1230.
About 1340, witnesses watched as the accident airplane departed to the north on runway 04. The witnesses reported that just after takeoff, the airplane made a left climbing 270-degree turn, and it eventually flew crosswind over the departure runway. When the airplane reached 300 feet above ground level, the climb shallowed slightly as it passed over a workshop and a house located on the airstrip. As the airplane flew in a northeasterly direction, and away from the airport, witnesses reported that the airplane began another climbing left turn. During the turn, the airplane rolled to the left, then it descended vertically, nose first, and it subsequently descended behind a stand of tall trees and out of sight of the witnesses.
On October 8, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), along with an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Wasilla Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), traveled to the accident scene. The on-scene investigation revealed that the airplane impacted a paved road in a nose-low attitude, and damage was consistent with a near-vertical descent prior to impact. A post-impact fire ensued, which incinerated most of the wreckage.
A post-accident examination of the airplane by the NTSB IIC, and a FAA aviation safety inspector from the Wasilla Flight Standards District Office, revealed no mechanical irregularities that would have precluded normal operation.
The airplane was equipped with a Continental Motors O-200 engine. A detailed NTSB examination of the engine is pending.
The closest weather reporting facility was Wasilla, about 9 miles east of the accident site. At 1036, an aviation routine weather report (METAR) was reporting, in part: Wind 060 degrees at 13 knots gust 19 knots; visibility, 10 statute miles; clouds and sky condition, overcast at 12000 feet; temperature, 13 degrees C; dew point, 1 degrees C; altimeter, 29.30 inHg.
BIG LAKE -- Witnesses saw Joe Mielke’s Cessna 150F make a climbing turn, roll to the left and then drop nose first behind a stand of tall birch trees before it plummeted into a two-lane road near Houston High School on Oct. 8.
The fiery crash killed the 23-year-old commercial pilot from a well-known Big Lake family who started working for Yute Air in Bethel in April.
The witness accounts come from a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released Tuesday morning. The report includes the first findings of investigators, based on weather, witness accounts and an examination of the wreckage. But investigators have yet to conduct a detailed examination of the plane’s Continental Motors O-200 engine. A probable-cause report could take up to a year.
An NTSB investigator and Federal Aviation Administration inspector “found no mechanical irregularities that would have precluded normal operation," the report states. The weather at Wasilla, 9 miles away, was overcast at 12,000 feet, with 13-knot winds gusting to 19 and 10 miles of visibility.
No flight plan was filed, investigators say.
Mielke loved to fly and took to it quickly, family and friends said during a memorial service at Faith Bible Fellowship Church in Big Lake last week. Friends described how he would fly over their homes and sometimes send aerial photos when he did. His brother said he loved to practice stalls, sometimes literally making himself sick in the process.
“He was the quickest person to get a pilot’s license I taught in 50 years flying,” Ray Johnson, Mielke’s initial flight instructor, said during the service.
Mielke’s first solo flight in March 2013 was followed by a private pilot certification that same year, commercial pilot certification in 2014 and flight instructor this year, according to an obituary written by his family.
The morning of the accident, Mielke departed from Big Lake Airport and then flew to Cubdivision Airport, a 1,200-foot-long by 100-foot-wide private gravel-covered airstrip, at about 12:30 p.m., according to the NTSB report. Witnesses watched at 1:40 p.m. as Mielke departed the airstrip to the north, made a left climbing 270-degree turn and flew crosswind over the runway.
At 300 feet up, the plane’s climb “shallowed slightly” as the Cessna flew over a workshop and house on the airstrip, the report says.
“As the airplane flew in a northeasterly direction, and away from the airport, witnesses reported that the airplane began another climbing left turn,” it continues. “During the turn, the airplane rolled to the left, then it descended vertically, nose first, and it subsequently descended behind a stand of tall trees and out of sight of the witnesses.”
An 'intentional' life
Friends and family gathered at last Thursday’s memorial service remembered Mielke's big smile, kind heart, adventurous soul and strong Christian faith. The Bible he read constantly was inside the Cessna and survived the crash.
“Joe truly believed. He was not afraid to die. As a dad kind of grieving through the loss, that’s the biggest comfort,” said his father, Phillip Mielke. “I know where he is. It’s the hole he left behind that worries me.”
Mielke was also described as an avid reader with a probing, curious mind who threw himself into his passions with such vigor that he once broke his leg trying to get from one tree to another, 40 feet off the ground, said his younger brother, Samuel.
“He really put a lot of energy into all the things he did,” Samuel Mielke said.
Mielke served the church, teaching Sunday school, playing the piano and helping lead small youth groups, the obituary said.
Mielke’s family -- parents Phil and Helen, brother Samuel, and sisters Esther, Lydia and Hannah -- stood on a stage at the church and told uplifting or funny stories about him in loving commentary sprinkled with Bible verses.
Sister Esther Mielke said she and Joe spent the summer together and learned not to fight because their parents weren’t around to solve their problems.
They hiked, played piano and organ, and gardened. And they had what Esther Mielke described as “weekslong” conversations about everything from government’s role in plowing roads to whether it was OK to lie to save someone’s life.
Their last conversation was about antibiotic cream, she said. “Every moment of your day, realize it could be your last.”
Mielke was born in Palmer and moved with his parents to Hong Kong at 6 months old before moving to Big Lake after he turned 2, his obituary said. He was homeschooled and got a history degree in just over two years of self-study at Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey. He read through the Bible every year for most of his life.
“He lived a very intentional life,” said Ben Mosier, a youth pastor at Faith Fellowship. “He crammed more into 23 years than most people do in their entire life.”
HOUSTON — A Big Lake man is dead after a plane crash in Houston Thursday afternoon.
Alaska State Troopers confirmed the death of the pilot of a single-engine plane that crashed near the curve where Hawk Lane turns into North Victor Road at about 1:39 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said family members at the scene identified the pilot as Joseph "Joe" Mielke, 23, of Big Lake. However, she said the State Medical Examiner's Office would have to positively confirm the pilot's identity.
According to the FAA's online registry, the plane was a Cessna 150F built in 1965 and registered to Joseph T. Mielke.
Glenn Stevens, EMS chief for the Mat-Su Borough, said authorities received a 911 call at 1:39 p.m. that a plane was on fire in the middle of the road. The location is about a mile from Houston High School.
Stevens said an ambulance was nearby, but it was too late to help the pilot as the plane was engulfed in flames.
“They were on scene in just a couple of minutes,” he said.
Stevens said the FAA and NTSB had been notified and would likely assist state troopers with the investigation.
Peters said initial witness reports indicated the plane crashed shortly after take-off.
"They think it stalled," she said.
After the flames were extinguished, the green and white plane was covered with a large red tarp. Stevens said the road would likely be shut down for several hours while the investigation proceeds.
“It’s also a stark reminder of general aviation in Alaska and how much of it there really is and how careful people need to be,” he said.
He added that anytime someone is lost under tragic circumstances it can have a big impact on people in a small town like Houston-Big Lake.
"It can have a profound effect on the community," he said.
Source: http://www.frontiersman.com
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