On September 2, 1996, about 1700 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Maule M-4 airplane, N4726T, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over while landing on a gravel bar located approximately 50 miles west of Skwentna, Alaska. The private pilot and sole passenger aboard were not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight operated in visual meteorological conditions. The flight last departed Palmer, Alaska, about 1520, and the destination was the gravel bar. During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on September 5, the pilot reported that after touchdown on the gravel bar, he realized that he had touched down farther down the gravel bar than he wanted to. He said he tried to abort the landing, but as he reached for the throttle to increase engine power, the airplane struck something on the gravel bar. The pilot said his hand was knocked away from the throttle by the impact. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control, and the airplane entered a depression in the gravel bar. The left main landing gear wheel subsequently dug into the ground, and the airplane nosed over.