- Date
- July 9, 2003, 14:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7051Piper PA-18-160
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 3, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA Anchorage FSDO-03
- FAA report
- 20030709029259A
- Case key
- 57464
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 unsuitable terrain for landing, which resulted in an encounter with high brush.
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 selected a dirt road to practice a proficiency landing. During the landing roll, the left wing contacted high brush encroaching on the landing area. The airplane made a sharp left turn, and stopped at the edge of the landing area. Both wingtips and the left aileron were damaged.
Factual narrative
On July 9, 2003, about 1400 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-18-160 airplane, N7051, sustained substantial damage when it collided with high brush during the landing roll on a dirt road, about 10 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) public use flight by the Alaska State Troopers at the time of the accident. The solo airline transport pilot was not injured. The flight departed the Soldotna Airport, Soldotna, Alaska, about 1315. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company VFR flight following procedures were in effect.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on July 9, the director of operations for the operator said the pilot was returning to Anchorage, from Soldotna, and decided to land on a dirt road for practice. According to the director of operations, the pilot told him he had landed on the dirt road several times before, but on the accident flight, the left wing encountered high brush during the landing roll, and the airplane was pulled off the road. Both of the airplane's wingtips and the left aileron were damaged.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7051
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-160
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- PA18-2932
- Airframe hours
- 12,865
- Engine
- Lycoming O320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Public use
- Registered owner
- State of Alaska
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2003 · 63 hours before
- Departed
- PASX · Soldotna, AK
- Destination
- Z41 · Anchorage, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- May 15, 2003
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 500 in this make and model · 14,000 as pilot in command · 209 in the last 90 days · 46 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
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 N7051 · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.