- Date
- June 20, 2012, 20:30 local (Jun 21, 2012, 04:30 UTC)
- Place
- Beluga, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N77ECPiper J3F-65
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR go-around: Abnormal runway contact
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 26, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120620018319A
- Case key
- 84551
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 delayed decision to go around, which resulted in a hard landing.
Findings · 1
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 stated that he had been landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane at an off-airport site. On his third landing attempt, he elected to go around, but the airplane landed hard. During the landing, the left main landing gear broke and the left wing contacted the ground, sustaining substantial damage to the wing spar. In a written statement, the pilot stated that the airplane may not have been developing full power, but in a telephone conversation he said that, "the engine was running good when the prop hit."
Factual narrative
The pilot stated that he had been landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane at an off-airport site. On his third landing attempt, he elected to go around, but the airplane landed hard. During the landing, the left main landing gear broke, and the left wing contacted terrain, sustaining substantial damage to the wing spar. In his written statement to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the pilot stated that the airplane may not have been developing full power, but in a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge he said, "the engine was running good when the prop hit."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N77EC
- Reported as
- Piper J3F-65
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 7025
- Airframe hours
- 3,697
- Engine
- Franklin 4AC176B SER, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 19, 2011 · 13 hours before
- Departed
- Z41 · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- Z41 · Anchorage, AK
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
- 48
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Military
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 24, 2011
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 6,500 total · 13 in this make and model · 36 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 5, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 696 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.