Piper PA-18 accident near Chickaloon, Alaska, November 10, 2022

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

The student pilot was flying low over a river when the airplane impacted an unmarked cable suspended about 30 ft above the water. The wings were separated from the airframe and a portion of the cable remained wrapped around the right wing. The engine remained attached to the airframe. The propeller blades remained attached to the engine crankshaft flanges, and gouges consistent with cable impact were present along the leading edge of one of the blades. Although the pilot had mild-to-moderate coronary artery disease, given the circumstances of the accident, it is unlikely that the pilot’s coronary artery disease contributed to the crash. Toxicology testing of the pilot’s tissue indicated the presence of a cannabis product. One accredited laboratory detected the psychoactive cannabinoid delta-9-THC in blood, while the other did not. No active metabolite of delta-9-THC was detected, and the nonpsychoactive metabolite carboxy-delta-9-THC was detected at low levels only. Based on these results and the accident circumstances, it is unlikely that cannabis significantly affected the pilot’s decision to fly at low altitude or his failure to avoid the unmarked cable.

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.