- Date
- March 15, 2011, 12:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N81074Cessna 140
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 8, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20110315003289A
- Case key
- 78555
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 while landing, resulting in a ground loop.
Findings · 3
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 pilot reported that he was landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane and encountered a gust of wind that lifted the left wing. The airplane ground looped to the left, striking the right wing on the runway. The airplane then exited the left side of the runway, hit a snow berm, and nosed over. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Substantial damage was sustained to the right wing and vertical stabilizer.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane on a hard-surfaced runway, when a gust of wind lifted the left wing. The airplane ground looped to the left, striking the right wing on the runway. The airplane then exited the left side of the runway, hit a snow berm, and nosed over. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Substantial damage was sustained to the right wing and vertical stabilizer.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N81074
- Reported as
- Cessna 140
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 10368
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290 SERIES, 140 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lewis M Hiatt
- Registered owner
- Lewis M Hiatt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- Z30 · Goose Bay, AK
- Destination
- PAMR · Anchorage, AK
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- PAMR · Merrill Field, runway 07, 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
- 55
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 214 total · 11 in this make and model · 11 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 25 °F, dew point 5 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.29 inHg
- Observed at
- PAMR
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 29, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 272 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.
Other investigations on N81074 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.