Piper PA-12-150 accident near Healy, Alaska, September 23, 2018

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The pilot was performing a personal flight with one passenger to hunt sheep in remote mountainous terrain. After the pilot failed to report to his place of employment 4 days after their departure, an extensive SAR operation was launched the following day. The wreckage was located 2 days after the SAR operation began in a remote snow-covered mountainous valley. The airplane came to rest upright, with the fuselage banking to the right, both wings indicating forward/aft crushing, and the tail slightly elevated with little impact damage. The date and time of the accident could not be determined. Thus, the meteorological conditions before and at the time of the accident could not be determined. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The aft right wing spar exhibited signs of compression bending, with the right forward spar exhibiting aft bending. The aft left wing spar bolt indicated a failure in tension, and the left forward spar indicated forward bending. A postcrash fire incinerated a large portion of the wreckage. The pilot did not file a flight plan. If the pilot had filed a flight plan, SAR assets would have focused on a specific search area which would likely have reduced the time to find the airplane. Although the accident was likely not survivable due to the impact forces, a filed flight plan would have reduced the risk to aerial SAR assets operating in remote mountainous terrain.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.