- Date
- August 5, 2001, 13:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N82047Piper PA-18-160
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 3, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20010805036259A
- Case key
- 53071
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 wind conditions. A factor associated with the accident was a crosswind.
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 certificated commerical pilot, with one passenger aboard, was landing on runway 01, which required a correction for a slight left crosswind. After landing, during the landing roll, the airplane veered slightly to the right. The pilot added left rudder, in conjunction with left brake to correct the veer. The airplane subsequently ground looped to the left, and the right main landing gear collapsed. The right wing struck the surface of the airstrip, and sustained substantial damage. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On August 5, 2001, about 1315 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Piper PA-18-160 airplane, N82047, sustained substantial damage while landing at the Nugget Bench Airstrip, located about 28 miles northwest of Talkeetna, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The certificated commercial pilot, and the one passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated about 1200, from the Six Mile Lake Airstrip, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on August 6, the pilot reported that he was landing on runway 01, which required a correction for a slight left crosswind. The pilot stated that during the landing roll, the airplane veered slightly to the right. He said that as he added left rudder, in conjunction with left brake to correct the veer, the airplane ground looped to the left, and the right main landing gear collapsed. The right wing struck the surface of the airstrip, and sustained substantial damage.
The pilot stated that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N82047
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-160
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7809119
- Airframe hours
- 558.5
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sean R. Slaughter
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 10, 2001 · 57 hours before
- Departed
- Six Mile Lake, AK
- Destination
- 97Z · Talkeetna, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- 97Z · Nugget Bench, runway 01, 1,240 × 38 ft, gravel
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 28
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- May 12, 2001
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,907 total · 75 in this make and model · 2,792 as pilot in command · 183 in the last 90 days · 68 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Temperature
- 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.