- Date
- June 14, 2011, 14:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Palmer, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3858ZPiper PA-18-150
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 4, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration (ASI)
- FAA report
- 20110614011109A
- Case key
- 80765
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 loss of directional control while landing in a crosswind.
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 said he was landing at a remote, gravel-covered, off-airport site with a left crosswind. On touchdown, the airplane bounced and became airborne. He recovered from the bounce, and added power to cushion the landing, but a gust of wind lifted the left wing before touchdown. He aborted the landing, and added full engine power, but the airplane weather-vaned into the wind, and the right wing struck the ground. The airplane received substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot said he was landing at a remote, gravel-covered, off-airport site with a left crosswind. On touchdown, the airplane bounced and became airborne. He recovered from the bounce, and added power to cushion the landing, but a gust of wind lifted the left wing before touchdown. He aborted the landing, and added full engine power, but the airplane weather-vaned into the wind, and the right wing struck the ground. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane. The airplane received substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3858Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7629
- Airframe hours
- 4,377
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Adam J. Grenda
- Registered owner
- Tracy Vren
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 18, 2011 · 15 hours before
- Departed
- PAVB · Chugiak, 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
- 21
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 19, 2011
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 433 total · 9 in this make and model · 433 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,500 ft broken
- Altimeter
- 29.96 inHg
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 5, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 548 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.