# NTSB ANC03LA056: Piper PA-12, N2475M, Teller, AK, June 9, 2003 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: June 8, 2003, 16:45 local (Jun 9, 2003, 00:45 UTC) - Place: Teller, AK - Coordinates: 65.406112, -164.655548 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=65.4061&lon=-164.6555&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 3 uninjured - Status: Completed, report November 25, 2003 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: FAA, Fairbanks Flight Standards - NTSB case key (mKey): 57179 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC03LA056 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/57179/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC03LA056 ## Probable cause The pilot's inadequate compensation for a crosswind and his failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, resulting in a loss of control and nose down of the airplane. A factor in the accident was a crosswind. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - on ground/water, landing - roll - compensation for wind conditions - inadequate, pilot in command (cause) - weather condition - crosswind (contributing factor) - directional control - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - Nose down, landing - aborted - terrain condition - runway ## Analysis The pilot reported he was landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane on a gravel runway with a prevailing left crosswind. During the landing roll, the airplane swerved to the left, and he attempted to regain directional control and abort the landing by applying right brake, right rudder, and engine power. He was unable to abort the landing, and the right main landing gear tire deflated. The airplane subsequently nosed down, and received substantial damage to the fuselage, left aileron, and horizontal stabilizer. ## Factual narrative On June 8, 2003, about 1645 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Piper PA-12 airplane, N2475M, sustained substantial damage when it nosed down during an aborted landing at the Quartz Creek airstrip, located about 50 miles east-northeast of Teller, Alaska. The private pilot and the two passengers were not injured. The Title 14, CFR Part 91 local personal flight operated in day visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight was operated by the pilot/airplane owner. The flight departed Taylor, Alaska, about 1615, and the destination was the Quartz Creek airstrip. According to the pilot's written statement, he was landing on runway 12 at the Quartz Creek gravel-surfaced airstrip with a left crosswind from approximately 060 degrees (magnetic) at 6 to 7 knots. He reported that he made a correction for the crosswind, but that during the landing roll, the airplane veered to the left. He attempted to regain directional control, and abort the landing by applying right brake, right rudder, and engine power. He was unable to successfully abort the landing, the right main landing gear tire deflated, and the airplane nosed down, damaging fuselage longerons, the left aileron, and the left tip of the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot indicated there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N2475M](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N2475M), registered now, S/N 12-1688, built 1947 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Piper PA-12 - Registry model: [Piper PA-12](https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-12) (registry code 7101202) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming 0-235 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-0-235-series) (registry code 41505, 4 cycle) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 1688 - Airframe hours: 3278 - Engines: Lycoming O-320 150 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: William E. Tweet - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, August 29, 2002, 75 hours before - Departed: AK49, Taylor, AK - Destination: 5QC, Quartz Creek, AK - Airport: 5QC, Quartz Creek, runway 12, 2,960 × 64 ft, gravel ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 21; injuries: none; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, valid medical--w/ waivers/lim; last flight review February 21, 2003; seat: left; flight hours: 377 total, 175 in this make and model, 303 as pilot in command, 21 in the last 90 days, 20 in the last 30 days, 2 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 60° at 7 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 61 °F ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20030608026459A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20030608026459A), Jun 8, 2003: Piper PA12, Nome, AK, Substantial damage. (-23) Airman stated that while on short final with a left quartering crosswind the aircraft began drifting to the right. He applied additional crosswind… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.