N4380B is a Cessna 170B. It is a fixed-wing single-engine aircraft with 4 seats, powered by a Cont Motor 0-300 SER rated at 145 horsepower. The registration is active, with the registrant based in Chugiak, AK. Its standard airworthiness certificate was issued in Nov 1955. It has been registered to its current owner since Feb 2023. This page also carries 1 NTSB event.
2023
1955
That's everything on file so far — TailWiki checks the FAA registry daily and adds new entries as N4380B's record changes.
On September 22, 2020, about 1900 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 170B, N4380B, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Big Lake, Alaska. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 flight.
According to the pilot, he was landing on a remote off-airport gravel bar located along a river. During short final, at about 20 ft above ground level, the airplane’s engine sputtered followed by a partial loss of power. The engine then surged briefly followed by a total loss of engine power as the propeller continued to windmill. Subsequently, the airplane touched down in the river short of the gravel bar and nosed over, coming to rest inverted in the river. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and empennage.
The pilot reported that he had flown for about 1.5 hours prior to the accident and had about 1.7 hours of fuel remaining in the airplane’s fuel tanks at the time of the accident. He reported that he had been applying carburetor heat during his previous landings at the gravel bar and the fuel tank selector was set to BOTH during the approach.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation safety inspector examined the airplane after recovery and did not observe any abnormalities. He stated that he drained the fuel from the gascolator and the fuel looked normal with no contamination present.
A postaccident engine run was successfully performed. A non-aviation fuel tank was installed on the top of the fuselage to provide a fuel source. Air was applied to the fuel lines to provide pressure to ensure proper fuel flow, no contaminates were noted in the fuel lines.
The weather observation station located about 25 nautical miles away from the accident site reported that, about the time of the accident, the temperature was 55.4° F and dew point 37.4° F. According to the carburetor icing-probability chart located in FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin CE-09-35, the accident flight would have been operating in “serious icing in glide power”.
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About the Cessna 170B
About the modelA four-seat, high-wing taildragger — essentially the tailwheel ancestor of the 172. The B model added the large flaps that give it its short-field reputation.