- Date
- December 18, 2002, 11:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Palmer, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N325TPiper PA-18-105
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20021218034009A
- Case key
- 56221
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 takeoff area, and his failure to achieve takeoff speed which resulted in an on ground collision with a ditch. Contributing factors were soft and snow-covered terrain, and a ditch.
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 reported that during the takeoff roll, from the remote off airport site, the landing gear tires dug into the soft snow, and the airplane would not accelerate. The airplane subsequently collided with a ditch at the departure end of the site, and both main landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On December 18, 2002, about 1100 Alaska standard time, a tundra-tire equipped Piper PA-18-105 airplane, N325T, sustained substantial damage when it collided with a ditch during takeoff from a remote off airport site, located about 25 miles southeast of Palmer, 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 no flight plan was filed. The flight was destined for a private airstrip located in Wasilla, Alaska.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on December 19, the pilot reported that during the takeoff roll, the landing gear tires dug into the soft snow, and the airplane would not accelerate. The airplane subsequently collided with a ditch at the departure end of the site, and both main landing gear collapsed. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N325T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-105
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-2439
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bennett J. Drew
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2002
- Departed
- PAQ · Palmer, AK
- Destination
- WAS · Wasilla, 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
- 43
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 250 total · 65 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Temperature
- 10 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.