- Date
- September 7, 2003, 12:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Eagle, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8597DPiper PA-18-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Fairbank FSDO
- FAA report
- 20030907035159A
- Case key
- 57891
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 an unsuitable landing area, and his excessive use of the airplane's brakes during the landing roll, resulting in a nose over. A factor associated with the accident was 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 airline transport pilot was landing on a mountain ridgeline in a tailwheel, tundra tire-equipped airplane. The airplane touched down on the rough and uneven terrain without difficulty, but during the landing roll, the pilot inadvertently applied excessive braking action. The airplane subsequently nosed over and sustained structural damage to the rudder and wing lift struts. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On September 7, 2003, about 1200 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Piper PA-18-180 airplane, N8597D, received substantial damage when it nosed over while landing at an off-airport site in mountainous terrain. The accident site was approximately 30 miles west of Eagle, Alaska. The solo airline transport pilot was not injured. 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 flight departed a remote, off-airport site about 1100, and the destination was the accident site. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on September 8, the pilot of the accident airplane related that he was landing on a mountain ridgeline. He indicated that the airplane touched down on the rough and uneven terrain without difficulty, but during the landing roll, he inadvertently applied excessive braking action. The airplane subsequently nosed over, and sustained structural damage to the rudder and wing lift struts. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8597D
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-6248
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Charles R. Rhodes
- Registered owner
- RWR Air, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Eagle, AK
- Destination
- Eagle, 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
- 46
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 7,500 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 7,000 as pilot in command · 350 in the last 90 days · 135 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft overcast
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 N8597D · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.