PIPER PA 12

Full Narrative

On January 31, 2015, about 2040 Alaska standard time, a Piper PA-12 airplane, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing, following a loss of engine power while in the traffic pattern at the Palmer Municipal Airport, Palmer Alaska. The student pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual, and operated by the pilot as a night, visual flight rules training flight under the provisions of 14 CFR part 91 when the accident occurred. Night, visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight.

In a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge, the student pilot stated that he was practicing night, solo takeoff and landings at the Palmer Airport. While turning from the downwind to base leg in the traffic pattern, the engine began to sputter and lose power. He applied carburetor heat and switched fuel tanks, and the engine momentarily regained power, but then lost power a second time. Not thinking that he could make the runway environment, he elected for a forced landing on a golf course adjacent to the airport. During the final approach, the airplane's landing gear contacted a power line, and the airplane impacted terrain, sustaining substantial damage to the wings and fuselage.

Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety inspector from the Wasilla Flight Standards District Office revealed that the left wing fuel tank was empty. In a separate interview with the FAA, the student pilot stated that after the engine lost power the first time he thought that he inadvertently switched the fuel selector valve to the "OFF" position instead of the "Right Tank" position.

The student pilot did not complete and submit NTSB form 6120.1