ANC00LA048

The solo airline transport pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge that he was taxiing for takeoff in the newly purchased airplane. He indicated that when he applied the heel brakes, the airplane nosed over. This was his first flight in the airplane without the weight of another person in the back seat. The airplane was modified with a nose mounted battery, double puck brakes, and a boosted brake system. The pilot felt that the forward center of gravity and strong brake system, led the airplane to be prone to nose over with excessive braking. He said he was unfamiliar with the newly purchased aircraft, and did not compensate for this tendency.

On April 18, 2000, at 1500 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA-18-150 airplane, N10100, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over during taxi for takeoff at the Goose Bay Airport, Big Lake, Alaska. The solo airline transport pilot was not injured. The airplane was owned by the pilot and operated under 14 CFR Part 91. The personal flight departed the Lake Hood Airstrip, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1430 for Goose Bay to practice landings. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed.

The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge, during an interview on April 19, that he was taxiing for takeoff in the newly purchased airplane. He indicated that when he applied the heel brakes, the airplane nosed over.

He wrote in his NTSB Pilot/Operator report that this was his first flight in the airplane without the weight of another person in the back seat. He added that the airplane was modified with a nose mounted battery, double puck brakes, and a boosted brake system. He felt that the forward center of gravity and strong brake system, led the airplane to be prone to nose over with excessive braking. He said he was unfamiliar with the newly purchased aircraft, and did not compensate for this tendency.

Inspection of the airplane by an FAA airworthiness inspector, after the airplane had been turned onto its wheels, revealed damage to both front lift struts, the windshield, the empennage, and the vertical stabilizer. According to the pilot, the initial damage to the airplane consisted of propeller, spinner, cowl, windshield, and the top of the rudder. According to the pilot's written statement, during attempts to turn the airplane over, it fell from near vertical onto its back a second time, resulting in additional damage to the skylight, rudder, fuselage longerons, and lift struts.