- Date
- September 4, 2011, 21:45 local (Sep 5, 2011, 05:45 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3654MPiper PA-12
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Ground collision
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report December 27, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration – Operations
- FAA report
- 20110905018999A
- Case key
- 81703
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 misidentification of the runway environment in dusk light conditions.
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 pilot was attempting to land on an unlighted, gravel runway, at dusk, when he inadvertently touched down in a grass-covered drainage ditch, which was right of the gravel runway. During the landing roll, the airplane collided with a drainage culvert, sustaining substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot noted in his written statement to the NTSB that he was unable to discern the difference between the gravel runway and grass-covered terrain due to the low-light conditions, and he mistakenly selected the grass-covered ditch. The pilot indicated that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
The pilot was landing at an unlighted, gravel runway, at dusk, when he inadvertently touched down in a grass-covered drainage ditch, which was right of the gravel runway. During the landing roll, the airplane collided with a drainage culvert, sustaining substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage. The pilot noted in his written statement to the NTSB that he was unable to discern the difference between the gravel runway and grass-covered terrain due to the low-light conditions, and he mistakenly selected the grass-covered ditch. The pilot indicated that there were no mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3654M
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-2526
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235 SERIES, 115 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Finn Lunoe
- Registered owner
- Jason A Schmidt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- PAMR · Anchorage, AK
- Airport
- PAMR · Merrill Field Airport, runway 05, 2,000 × 60 ft, gravel
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
- 64
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 15, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 25 in this make and model · 1,500 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 10, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 601 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 N3654M · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.