- Date
- April 22, 2000, 17:30 local (Apr 23, 2000, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Mccarthy, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N1200APiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 17, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20000422042109A
- Case key
- 49045
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate compensation for the gusty wind conditions. A factor associated with the accident was the wind gusts.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot reported she landed her tailwheel airplane in gusty wind conditions. After landing, while turning the airplane in search of a parking site, she said a gust of wind picked the tail of the airplane off the ground, and the airplane nosed over.
Factual narrative
On April 22, 2000, about 1730 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N1200A, sustained substantial damage while taxiing after landing at the McCarthy Number 2 Airport (North latitude 61 degrees, 26 minutes; West longitude 142 degrees, 54 minutes), McCarthy, Alaska. The commercial pilot and the sole passenger were not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight originated at Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1330, and the destination was McCarthy. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company flight plan was filed. The airplane was owned and operated by Wrangell Mountain Air, Inc., Glennallen, Alaska.
The owner of the company reported the accident to the NTSB on April 25, 2000. He related his wife was the pilot, and that she and their daughter were returning from Anchorage. After landing at McCarthy, he said his wife was looking for a place to park the airplane, and had initiated a sharp turn toward the ramp, when a gust of wind turned the airplane inverted. The owner said the wind at the time of the accident was from the south at 20 knots, gusting to 30 knots. An unsigned NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report received by the NTSB investigator-in-charge on May 12, contained essentially the same information as given by the company owner.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1200A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1200
- Airframe hours
- 6,600
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wrangel Mountain Air
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · April 21, 2000 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- MRI · Anchorage, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 15Z · Mccarthy Number 2, runway 1, 3,500 × 60 ft, gravel
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 46
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 6,335 total · 340 in this make and model · 6,185 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 13 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 20 knots, gusting 30
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 45 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N1200A · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.