- Date
- July 14, 2003, 20:10 local (Jul 15, 2003, 04:10 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7699KPiper PA-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA Anchorage FSDO-03
- FAA report
- 20030714037329A
- Case key
- 57496
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 during the landing roll, which resulted in the airplane's collision with a ditch, and the collapse of the 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 pilot reported that during the landing roll, the tailwheel-equipped airplane veered to the left. He said he overcorrected, and the airplane veered sharply to the right, exited the right side of the runway, and collided with a ditch. He indicated that the landing gear subsequently collapsed, and the wings and fuselage sustained substantial damage.
Factual narrative
On July 14, 2003, about 2010 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Piper PA-20 airplane, N7699K, sustained substantial damage when it exited the runway during the landing roll, and collided with a ditch at the Wasilla Airport, Wasilla, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The private pilot and sole passenger were not injured. The flight departed the Anderson Lake Airstrip, Wasilla, about 2010, visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on July 15, the pilot said during the landing roll, the airplane veered to the left. He said he overcorrected, and the airplane veered sharply to the right, exited the right side of the runway, and collided with a ditch. He said the landing gear collapsed, and the wings and fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot said prior to the accident there were no known mechanical problems with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7699K
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-520
- Engine
- Lycoming O320B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John Boyd
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 13, 2002 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- 0AK1 · Anderson Lake, AK
- Destination
- PAWS · Wasilla, AK
- Airport
- PAWS · Wasilla, runway 21, 3,700 × 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
- 47
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight engineer, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- March 10, 2003
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,150 total · 55 in this make and model · 950 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °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 N7699K · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.