- Date
- July 4, 2005, 08:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Nome, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7440KPiper PA-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 20, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20050704017449A
- Case key
- 62022
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 inadequate compensation for wind conditions during the landing roll, which resulted in the collapse of the main landing gear, and a nose over. A factor associated with the accident was a crosswind.
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 private pilot was landing on a ridgeline, which required a correction for a right crosswind. During the landing roll, a gust of wind lifted the right wing, and the pilot applied full right aileron and full engine power in an attempt to abort the landing. During the aborted landing, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On July 4, 2005, about 0845 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Piper PA-20 airplane, N7440K, sustained structural damage during an aborted landing at an off airport site, located about 47 miles northeast of Nome, 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 private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Nome City Airfield, about 0800, and no flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on July 5, the pilot reported that he was landing to the northwest, on a ridgeline, which required a correction for a right crosswind from the north. The pilot stated that during the landing roll a gust of wind lifted the right wing, and he applied full right aileron and full engine power in an attempt to abort the landing. During the aborted landing, the right main landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7440K
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-351
- Airframe hours
- 2,690.83
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290-D2, 135 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Anthony C. Parsons
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 2005 · 17 hours before
- Departed
- 94Z · Nome, AK
- Destination
- Nome, 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
- 47
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 1, 2004
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 187 total · 134 in this make and model · 144 as pilot in command · 30 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Temperature
- 52 °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 N7440K · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.