- Date
- October 10, 2013, 14:15 local (22:15 UTC)
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N70604Piper J3C 65
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 1, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA Anchorage FSDO
- FAA report
- 20131010021169A
- Case key
- 88345
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 decision to make contact with an unsuitable landing surface, resulting in a nose over.
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 was performing a low pass of a snow-covered off-airport landing site, in a wheel-equipped airplane, to determine the condition of the snow pack. He was dragging the main landing gear on the landing surface, but the snow was deeper than expected, and the airplane nosed over sustaining substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have prevented normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot was performing a low pass of a snow-covered off-airport landing site, in a wheel-equipped airplane, to determine the condition of the snow pack. He was dragging the main landing gear on the landing surface, but the snow was deeper than expected, and the airplane nosed over sustaining substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have prevented normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N70604
- Reported as
- Piper J3C 65 (65)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17613
- Built
- 1946
- Engine
- Cont Motor O-200, 85 horsepower, unknown
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 18, 2013 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- PATK · Talkeetna, AK
- Destination
- Talkeetna, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 1, 2013
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 8,800 total · 750 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 45° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 13, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 751 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 N70604 · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.