- Date
- November 3, 2009, 16:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Palmer, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1042APiper PA-18-160
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Miscellaneous/other
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 12, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA FSDO-03
- FAA report
- 20091103051279A
- Case key
- 75041
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 takeoff.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The solo commercial pilot was taking off from a gravel bar on a personal local flight when the accident occurred. The pilot said that he was taking off from a gravel bar when the left main landing gear tire struck a rock before collapsing. The left wing then struck the ground, resulting in structural damage to the wing. According to the pilot there were no mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident. The airplane was not examined by the NTSB.
Factual narrative
On November 3, 2009, about 1600 Alaska standard time, a Piper PA-18-160 airplane, N1042A, sustained substantial damage during takeoff from a gravel bar, about 40 miles southeast of Palmer, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the pilot as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91. The solo commercial pilot was 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 November 10, the pilot said he was taking off from a gravel bar when the left main landing gear tire struck a rock, and the left main landing gear collapsed. He said when the landing gear collapsed, the left wing struck the ground, resulting in structural damage to the wing. He said there were no mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the accident. The pilot did not submit an NTSB accident report form as requested.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1042A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-160
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-616
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Casey Long
- Registered owner
- Skyline Holdings Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Palmer, AK
- Destination
- Palmer, AK
- Flight plan
- Unknown
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
- 43
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Flight hours
- 100 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft broken
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 7, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 29 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.