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Atlas / NTSB / ANC25LA036

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ANC25LA036

2025-04-25 North Pole, Alaska, United States Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N9308K

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

UNIVERSAL STINSON 108-2

Engine

FRANKLIN 6A4165 SERIES (165 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19560714

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S ACE923

Registrant of record

SIPES BRIAN S

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain obstacle clearance which resulted in an in-flight collision with a tree. Contributing to the accident was his impairment from the effects of alcohol consumption.

Factual narrative

The pilot departed an unknown airstrip and made an emergency landing at a US Army airfield. The left wing strut was substantially damaged and consistent with an impact with a tree. The pilot was uncooperative with first responders and smelled of alcohol and appeared to be under the influence. A police officer found an open container of alcohol in the airplane and transported the pilot to the hospital. 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).

  • Personnel issues-Physical-Impairment/incapacitation-Alcohol-Pilot
  • Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot
  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Effect on equipment

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2025_ANC25LA036.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type. Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗