Event ANC14LA091

Factual narrative

On September 28, 2014, about 1450 Alaska daylight time, a Piper J-3 airplane, N7092H, sustained substantial damage after colliding with terrain following a loss of engine power about 20 miles north of Circle, Alaska. The airplane was owned and operated by the private pilot as a personal flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight plan had been filed for the flight. On the day of the accident, the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge was notified that an airplane had crashed and that the pilot was taken to a hospital for treatment and released. In the weeks following the accident, multiple attempts were made to contact the pilot by both the NTSB and FAA, with no success. On April 1, 2015, the accident pilot contacted the FAA and made a statement about the accident. He stated that he was returning from his homestead about 140 miles north of Circle, and about 20 miles north of Circle, the airplane's engine lost all power. He made a forced landing in a burned out area of trees, and the airplane sustained damage to both wing, the left wing spar, and the fuselage. After the forced landing, he stated that he noticed the right hand wing fuel cap was missing. He stated that he had added five gallons of fuel to the right fuel tank before departing, and flew with the fuel selector on the right fuel tank for the entire flight before the engine lost power. He stated that after the engine lost power, he did not attempt to switch the fuel selector to the left fuel tank. The airplane was not examined by the NTSB, and after repeated attempts, the pilot did not submit an NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1) The private pilot was conducting a personal cross-country flight. The pilot reported that, during the flight, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot made a forced landing in a burned out area of trees, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot reported the accident about 6 months after it occurred. The pilot reported that, after the forced landing, he noted that the right fuel tank cap was missing and that the fuel in the right fuel tank was depleted. The fuel selector was selected to the right fuel tank when the engine lost power, and the pilot stated that he did not attempt to switch the fuel selector to the left fuel tank. The airplane was never recovered or examined; however, given the pilot's statement, it is likely that the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-Fuel planning-Pilot - C
• C Aircraft-Fluids/misc hardware-Fluids-Fuel-Fluid level - C
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Contributed to outcome