- Date
- April 23, 2003, 13:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Palmer, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5589HPiper PA-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03
- Case key
- 56873
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 failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing roll which resulted in an inadvertent ground loop and collapse of the left main landing gear.
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 commercial certificated pilot was landing a tundra tire-equipped airplane on an asphalt surface runway that was 3,616 feet long and 75 feet wide. The pilot said that during the landing roll, the airplane began to veer left and right, and he added engine power to control the airplane. The pilot indicated that the airplane departed off the runway surface to the right, and then ground looped to the right. The left main landing gear collapsed inward and upward, and the left wingtip struck the ground. The airplane received damage to the left landing gear and fuselage structure, the left wing lift strut, and left wingtip. The pilot reported the wind was from the south-southwest at 5 knots.
Factual narrative
On April 23, 2003, about 1330 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Piper PA-20 airplane, N5589H, sustained substantial damage when it departed off the right side of the runway and ground looped during the landing roll at the Palmer Municipal Airport, Palmer, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot/owner. The commercial certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Birchwood Airport, Chugiak, Alaska, at 1315. No flight plan was filed, nor was one required.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on April 23, the pilot reported that he was landing on runway 27 at the Palmer Airport. Runway 27 has an asphalt surface and is 3,616 feet long and 75 feet wide. The pilot said that during the landing roll, the airplane began to veer left and right, and he added engine power to control the airplane. The pilot indicated that the airplane departed off the runway surface to the right, and then ground looped to the right. The left main landing gear collapsed inward and upward, and the left wingtip struck the ground. The airplane received damage to the left landing gear and fuselage structure, the left wing lift strut, and left wingtip.
The pilot reported the wind was from the south-southwest at 5 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5589H
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-651
- Airframe hours
- 912
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Craig E. Walters
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 26, 2002 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- PABV · Chugiak, AK
- Destination
- PAAQ · Palmer, AK
- Airport
- PAAQ · Palmer Municipal, runway 27, 3,616 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- July 31, 2002
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,280 total · 95 in this make and model · 1,180 as pilot in command · 120 in the last 90 days · 50 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F
Other investigations on N5589H · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.