- Date
- August 10, 2002, 21:00 local (Aug 11, 2002, 05:00 UTC)
- Place
- Copper Center, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N83272Piper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 29, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03
- FAA report
- 20020811020149A
- Case key
- 55458
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 selection of unsuitable terrain for landing, resulting in a nose-over during the landing roll. A factor contributing to the accident was rough/uneven terrain.
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 private certificated pilot was landing a tundra tire-equipped airplane on rough/uneven terrain at a remote airstrip. The airstrip, oriented east/west, is about 800 feet long and 9 feet wide. The pilot said he landed toward the west in an area of tundra and rocks, and during the landing roll, the right tire hit rocks and the airplane bounced. He applied the brakes as the right tire entered bushes along the edge of the landing area. The airplane nosed over and received damage to the propeller, the left wing lift strut, the right wing, and the rudder.
Factual narrative
On August 10, 2002, about 2100 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N83272, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over during a landing on rough/uneven terrain at a remote airstrip, about 25 miles east-northeast of Copper Center, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Gulkana Airport, Gulkana, Alaska, about 2020.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on August 11, the pilot reported that he was landing at a hunting camp to pick up a passenger. The camp was located along the Chickokna River in the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Preserve. The pilot said the airstrip, oriented east/west, is about 800 feet long and 9 feet wide. He said he landed toward the west in an area of tundra and rocks, and during the landing roll, the right tire hit rocks and the airplane bounced. He applied the brakes as the right tire entered bushes along the edge of the landing area. The airplane nosed over and received damage to the propeller, the left wing lift strut, the right wing, and the rudder.
The airplane's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) was activated during the accident, and search personnel located the airplane the following day.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83272
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7609063
- Airframe hours
- 1,338
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- James D. Bowker
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2002 · 101 hours before
- Departed
- PAGK · Gulkana, AK
- Destination
- Copper Center, AK
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
- 35
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- January 16, 2001
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 323 total · 267 in this make and model · 301 as pilot in command · 57 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 9 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 225° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 45 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 10, 2003, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 752 KB in all.
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 N83272 · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.