# NTSB ANC00LA048: Piper PA-18-150, N10100, Big Lake, AK, April 18, 2000 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: April 18, 2000, 15:00 local (23:00 UTC) - Place: Big Lake, AK - Coordinates: 61.460517, -150.089355 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=61.4605&lon=-150.0894&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Taxi](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/250) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report May 9, 2001 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - NTSB case key (mKey): 48997 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC00LA048 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/48997/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC00LA048 ## Probable cause The pilot's excessive application of heel brakes. A factor associated with this accident was the pilot's lack of experience in the make and model of airplane. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Abrupt maneuver, taxi - to takeoff - brakes(normal) - excessive, pilot in command (cause) - lack of total experience in type of aircraft, pilot in command (contributing factor) - Nose over, taxi - to takeoff ## Analysis 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. ## Factual narrative 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. ## Aircraft - Registration: N10100 (not matched to a registry record) - Reported make and model: Piper PA-18-150 - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 18-8481 - Airframe hours: 2223 - Engines: Lycoming O-320-A2B 150 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Operator: Trent R. Davey - Registered owner: Trent And Lori Davey - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, March 31, 2000, 6 hours before - Departed: Z41, ANCHORAGE, AK - Airport: Z40, Goose Bay, runway 25, 3,000 × 75 ft, gravel ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 35; military, commercial, airline transport; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land, single-engine sea; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: front; flight hours: 3,188 total, 4 in this make and model, 2,873 as pilot in command, 124 in the last 90 days, 42 in the last 30 days, 1 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 360° at 5 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 15,000 ft overcast - Temperature: 39 °F From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.