- Date
- January 4, 2013, 12:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Palmer, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7780YPiper PA-18-150
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 3, 2013
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA FSDO-03
- FAA report
- 20130104000749A
- Case key
- 85965
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 an off-airport landing, which resulted in a ground-loop.
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 departed from a private airstrip in a wheel/ski-equipped airplane on a local area flight. During the flight, he elected to land on an ice-covered, frozen lake, and, due to the bare ice conditions, he elected to land in a wheel configuration instead of ski configuration. During the landing roll, as the airplane slowed, the left tire broke through a layer of thin ice atop several inches of water, and the airplane veered left. The pilot applied engine power in an attempt to correct the veer, but the airplane subsequently ground-looped to the left, sustaining substantial damage to the empennage and fuselage. The pilot reported no preaccident malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot departed from a private airstrip, in a wheel/ski-equipped airplane, on a local area flight. During the flight he elected to land on an ice-covered, frozen lake, and due to the bare ice conditions, he elected to land in a wheel configuration instead of ski configuration. During the landing roll, as the airplane slowed, the left tire broke through a layer of thin ice atop several inches of water, and the airplane veered left. The pilot applied engine power in an attempt to correct the veer, but the airplane subsequently ground-looped to the left, sustaining substantial damage to the empennage and fuselage. The pilot reported no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7780Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7886
- Airframe hours
- 11,000
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Keller Matthew C
- Registered owner
- Keller Matthew C
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 15, 2012
- Departed
- AK63 · Palmer, AK
- Destination
- AK63 · Palmer, 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
- 33
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 13, 2012
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 6,000 total · 4,000 in this make and model · 5,900 as pilot in command · 50 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 100 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 28 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 8, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.7 MB 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.