Piper PA-32-300 accident near Tuntutuliak, Alaska, August 3, 1996
On August 3, 1996 at about 9:05 pm local time, a Piper PA-32-300, registered N4170R, was involved in an accident near Tuntutuliak, Alaska (Tuntutuliak airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's inadequate visual lookout.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 3, 1996 · about 9:05 pm local time
- Place
- Tuntutuliak, Alaska · Tuntutuliak · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-32-300 · all PA-32-300s on the register
- Registration
- N4170R · no longer on the register · serial 32-40502
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot reported he was beginning to taxi the airplane from the ramp area to the active runway. While still on the ramp, and partially through a left turn, the airplane's right wing struck a cargo handler, breaking one or more of her ribs. The pilot said he was looking to the left during the turn, and did not see the cargo handler until after the impact.
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.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 7,734 hours in all; 1,700 in this make and model; 400 in the last 90 days; 135 in the last 30 days; 7,608 as pilot in command; 2,300 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,400 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, July 21, 1996; 25 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,400 lb
- Seats: 7
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: AK61
- Destination: BET` Bethel AK
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 215° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 55°F (13°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N4170R the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.