N3391Z

On November 11, 1998, about 1400 Alaska standard time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA-18-150 airplane, N3391Z, sustained substantial damage while landing at an off airport site located about 29 miles northwest of Kenai, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.

During a telephone conversation with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator on November 19, 1998, the pilot reported that he was attempting to land on a remote sand bar. He reported that as the airplane touched down, he determined that the landing area was too short to complete a safe landing, and he attempted to abort the landing. He reported that as the throttle was advanced, the engine quit, and that he was unable to stop the airplane before reaching the end of the sand bar. The airplane went down an embankment, entered a river, and nosed over. The pilot related that he did not use carburetor heat during the aborted landing, and that carburetor ice was the reason for the loss in power. He added that there was nothing mechanically wrong with the airplane.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and the right wing lift strut.