N4481Z is a 1969 Piper PA-18-150. It is a fixed-wing single-engine aircraft with 2 seats, powered by a Lycoming 0-320 series rated at 180 horsepower. The registration is active, with the registrant based in Wasilla, AK. Its multiple airworthiness certificate was issued in May 2023. It has been registered to its current owner since Apr 2018. This page also carries 1 NTSB event.
- 57 years old
- 1 of 2,081 Piper PA-18-150
2023
2018
That's everything on file so far — TailWiki checks the FAA registry daily and adds new entries as N4481Z's record changes.
On August 9, 2023, about 1215 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-18-150 airplane, N4481Z, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident about 60 miles northwest of Skwentna, Alaska. The pilot and passenger sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was being operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 on-demand charter flight.
The airplane was operated by Willow Creek Aviation, LLC, in support of a remote sheep hunting excursion. The passenger and a friend chartered Willow Creek Aviation, LLC, to transport them and their hunting gear to the Dillinger River area. On August 6, 2023, the pilot and the two hunters departed from the Big Lake Airport (PAGQ), Big Lake, Alaska, and conducted a scouting trip in the pilot’s Cessna 206 airplane to check out the Dillinger River area for a possible hunting location and a suitable landing area for the pilot’s PA-18 airplane. The passengers were planning for an 8-to-10-day hunting trip.
On the morning of the accident, about 0830, the pilot and the two hunters departed PAGQ in Willow Creek Aviation’s Cessna 206 airplane and they landed at a remote airstrip in an area referred to as Donkey Creek. The hunters and hunting gear were offloaded and the pilot returned to PAGQ to pick up his PA-18, the accident airplane. The pilot returned to Donkey Creek in the PA-18 and loaded one hunter and his gear for the flight to the hunting location near the Dillinger River (see Figure 1). The pilot informed the other hunter he was expected to return in about 2 hours to pick him up and transport him to the planned hunting location.
Figure 1. Planned flight overview and accident site location.
Based on a cellular phone video from the other hunter, the airplane departed from Donkey Creek about 1150, and no further communications were received from the pilot or passenger. About 1600, after the airplane did not return to Donkey Creek, the hunter contacted family members using a satellite messaging device to see if they were aware of the overdue airplane’s status. Over the next several hours, family members and friends attempted to communicate with the pilot and passenger’s satellite messaging devices, but those attempts were unsuccessful.
About 2130, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alert notice was issued for the overdue airplane.
Search and rescue operations began that evening by the Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center (AKRCC). Initial search flights were then suspended due to poor weather in the identified search area. On August 10th, about 0930, the airplane wreckage was located by the AKRCC at the bottom of an estimated 500 to 600 ft deep narrow ravine of the West Fork of the Yentna River, also known as Shellabarger Pass in Denali National Park and Preserve (see Figures 2 and 3).
Figure 2. Accident site location (airplane circled in red)
Figure 3. Airplane wreckage in bottom of ravine
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About the Piper PA-18-150
About the modelThe Super Cub — a two-seat tandem taildragger developed from the J-3 with far more power. A backcountry, bush and glider-towing aircraft, prized for short-field performance.