- Date
- August 18, 2002, 13:10 local (21:10 UTC)
- Place
- Sparrevohn, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6949BPiper PA-22-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 30, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20020818023409A
- Case key
- 55573
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 evaluation of wind conditions while landing, which resulted in a downwind landing and an encounter with rough terrain when the airplane overran the intended landing area. Factors associated with the accident were a tailwind, and rough and 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 solo private pilot was landing the airplane to the north on a treeless, mountain ridge top. While on approach for landing, he encountered what he characterized as light and variable winds estimated to be from the north at 10 knots. He said that just after touchdown, he realized that the wind was from the south. The pilot said that he applied full engine power in an attempt to abort the landing, but the airplane did not become airborne. The airplane rolled to the end of the site, and the main wheels struck rough and uneven terrain. The main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane slid down an embankment. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On August 18, 2002, about 1310 Alaska daylight time, a tundra-tire equipped PA-22-150 airplane, N6949B, sustained substantial damage when it encountered rough and uneven terrain during an aborted landing at an on off-airport site located about 32 miles southwest of Sparrevohn, 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 solo private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated about 1045, from a private airstrip located at Drift River, Alaska.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on August 20, the pilot reported that he was landing to the north on a treeless, mountain ridge top. He said that while on approach for landing, he encountered what he characterized as light and variable winds estimated to be from the north at 10 knots. He said that just after touchdown, he realized that the wind was from the south. The pilot said that he applied full engine power in an attempt to abort the landing, but the airplane did not become airborne. The airplane rolled to the end of the site, and the main wheels struck rough and uneven terrain. The main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane slid down an embankment. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6949B
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-4229
- Airframe hours
- 2,646
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Ronald Wild
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 13, 2002 · 45.4 hours before
- Departed
- 3AK5 · Drift River, AK
- Destination
- SVW · Sparrevohn, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- August 6, 2001
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 521 total · 450 in this make and model · 470 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 70 °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 N6949B · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.