N5326H

On March 13, 1997, about 1300 Alaska standard time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-16 airplane, N5326H, sustained substantial damage while landing on an unnamed lake located about 20 miles west of Iliamna, Alaska. The private certificated pilot and the one passenger aboard were not injured. The local, 14 CFR Part 91 flight, operated in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight departed Ninilchik, Alaska, about 0930. The purpose of the flight was to look for, and hunt, caribou.

During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on March 17, the pilot said he was attempting to land the airplane on a frozen lake in light and variable wind conditions. About eight to ten feet above the lake, the airplane stalled and landed hard, damaging the landing gear and the left wing lift strut. The pilot said there may have been some low level wind sheer associated with a small ravine near the edge of the lake. The pilot also stated he was flying the airplane 2 to 3 miles per hour over the stall during the approach to land.