- Date
- June 3, 2006, 14:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Birchwood, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N7452JPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 28, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Anchorage FSDO-03
- FAA report
- 20060603012119A
- Case key
- 63939
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 improper servicing/adjustment of the main landing gear brakes, which resulted in a locked brake and a loss of control while taxiing.
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 reported that he was taxiing for takeoff on a personal, cross-country flight under Title 14, CFR part 91, when the left brake locked. According to a witness, the pilot stated that he had serviced the brakes prior to taxiing. A mechanic repairing the airplane said he found that the left brake was over-serviced with fluid, and that the right brake linkage was improperly adjusted, leaving the left brake tight, and the right brake loose. The airplane sustained damage to its wings, wing spars, and horizontal stabilizer.
Factual narrative
On June 3, 2006, about 1400 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-18-150 airplane, N7452J, sustained substantial damage when it ground-looped during taxi at the Birchwood Airport, Birchwood, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal cross-country flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The private certificated pilot and sole passenger were not injured. 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 June 20, a spokesperson for the pilot, who said she was calling at the pilot's request, said the pilot told her he had serviced the airplane's brakes prior to takeoff. She also said he told her the left brake was sticking, and that during the takeoff roll the left brake froze. According to the spokesperson, the pilot said the airplane veered off the left side of the runway, encountered a ditch, and ground-looped.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC on June 15, the mechanic repairing the airplane said the airplane sustained damage to the wings, wing spars, and elevator. In a subsequent conversation the mechanic told the IIC he found the left brake had been over-serviced with fluid, and the right brake linkage was improperly adjusted, leaving the left brake tight, and the right brake loose.
In a written statement to the NTSB dated June 6, the pilot wrote that he was taxiing when the left brake locked up.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7452J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7452
- Airframe hours
- 4,318
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 B2C, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jack Hoffman
- Registered owner
- Todd R Hoffman Charitable Trust
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 2005
- Departed
- PABV · Birchwood, AK
- Destination
- Sandy, OR
- Airport
- PAVB · Birchwood, runway 1L, 4,010 × 100 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
- 60
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 1, 2006
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 4 in this make and model · 2,000 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.