ANC01LA110

The pilot reported he was landing his tailwheel configured airplane at an off airport landing site. During the landing roll, he allowed the right main landing gear tire to enter a ditch. The airplane was pulled deeper into the ditch, and received substantial damage.

On August 8, 2001, about 2230 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 150 airplane, N11361, received substantial damage while landing on a gravel bar on the Salcha river, located about 35 miles northwest of Delta Junction, Alaska. The private pilot received serious injuries; the sole passenger was not injured. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight departed Delta Junction about 2130, and operated in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The destination was the Salcha river.

During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on August 14, the pilot related he was taking his son on a hunting trip in the vicinity of the Salcha river. He noted his Cessna 150 had been modified with a 180 horsepower Lycoming engine, and had been converted to a tailwheel configuration. He said he selected a gravel bar to land on, and that during the landing roll, as he applied maximum braking, the airplane went to the right and into a ditch. He said he broke his right arm during the crash, and that there were no preimpact mechanical problems with the airplane.