What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
The pilot made an approach to landing at the Mile hi Idaho Airstrip located on a mountain ridgetop at an evelvation of 5831'MSL. The Airstrip is 560' in length with an upslope of 18-22%. Upon landing rollout, the pilot reported the aircraft was not decelerating as expected. He immediately noticed the aircraft breaks were not effective. Both tires were wet and locked sliding on the wet grass and he was quickly running out of usable Airstrip. The pilot stated a go-around would have potentially been catastrophic. Therefore, he elected to intentionally initiate a ground loop to the right, applying full right rudder and adding power to avoid rolling over the steep rocky ravine. The ground loop resulted in substansial damage to the left elevator and left outboard aileron.
As the FAA filed it
THE PILOT MADE AN APPROACH TO LANDING AT THE MILE HI IDAHO AIRSTRIP LOCATED ON A MOUNTAIN RIDGETOP AT AN EVELVATION OF 5831'MSL. THE AIRSTRIP IS 560' IN LENGTH WITH AN UPSLOPE OF 18-22%. UPON LANDING ROLLOUT, THE PILOT REPORTED THE AIRCRAFT WAS NOT DECELERATING AS EXPECTED. HE IMMEDIATELY NOTICED THE AIRCRAFT BREAKS WERE NOT EFFECTIVE. BOTH TIRES WERE WET AND LOCKED SLIDING ON THE WET GRASS AND HE WAS QUICKLY RUNNING OUT OF USABLE AIRSTRIP. THE PILOT STATED A GO-AROUND WOULD HAVE POTENTIALLY BEEN CATASTROPHIC. THEREFORE, HE ELECTED TO INTENTIONALLY INITIATE A GROUND LOOP TO THE RIGHT, APPLYING FULL RIGHT RUDDER AND ADDING POWER TO AVOID ROLLING OVER THE STEEP ROCKY RAVINE. THE GROUND LOOP RESULTED IN SUBSTANSIAL DAMAGE TO THE LEFT ELEVATOR AND LEFT OUTBOARD AILERON.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.