N4341Z

On July 26, 1994, at 1300 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA18-150 airplane, N4341Z, owned and operated by the pilot-in-command, collided with terrain near the Hula Hula River, approximately 120 miles east of Deadhorse, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The pleasure flight, conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Deadhorse at approximately 0900 for the purpose of game spotting in the vicinity of the accident site. The pilot reported that calm winds and visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and that no flight plan was in effect.

During a telephone conversation on the afternoon of July 27, 1994, the pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge that he landed the airplane about 3/4ths of the way down a 800ft. X 60ft. unimproved landing strip and he elected to go around. Just after lift off, the engine began missing and he was forced to land the plane on a rocky surface about 900 feet beyond the landing strip.

A subsequent inspection of the airplane by the pilot/operator did not reveal the cause of the partial loss of power.