Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot inadvertently walked into a turning propeller. Factors in the accident were the soft runway which mired the airplane and the pilot's diverted attention during the attempt to free the airplane.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The airplane was taxiing for takeoff from remote dirt strip and became mired in mud. The pilot deplaned, leaving the engine running unattended and lifted the tail wheel free. With attention diverted by work to free the airplane, the pilot walked into the propeller arc and received fatal injuries.
Source record
Factual narrative
On September 5, 1993, at approximately 2200, Alaska daylight time, a hunter pilot on a muddy remote landing strip was struck by a turning propeller on his wheel-equipped Piper PA-12 airplane, N3629M. Visual meteorological conditions were reported in the area, but no witnesses were known to have seen the accident. The pilot had boarded the airplane for the purpose of takeoff, but had left the airplane momentarily to lift the airplane's tailwheel from the mud, and during return to the cockpit, walked into the propeller arc. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 for personal reasons at the time. The private pilot was found the following day to have suffered fatal injuries and the airplane was not damaged. Alaska State Troopers from the Troopers and Fish & Wildlife Protection conducted the investigation on behalf of the NTSB. Footprints found at the scene indicated the activity of the pilot surrounding the airplane stuck in the mud. Interviews of the pilot's companions revealed that the pilot had landed at the remote strip en route to base camp when his airplane became low on fuel. A second airplane landed and delivered fuel and departed the short strip. While overhead, the second airplane's pilot received a radio transmission indicating that N3629M had become stuck in the mud at the end of the strip and the pilot intended to get out and pull it free. That was the last transmission heard from the accident pilot. On the following day, companions found the pilot deceased and lying under the airplane's propeller. Upon examination they found the airplane's magneto switches still in the "on" position and the fuel selector on "both". -