- Date
- March 30, 2015, 18:00 local (Mar 31, 2015, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4582CCessna 170B
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 8, 2015
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20150331005159A
- Case key
- 90965
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 flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the student while landing, which resulted in a ground loop. Contributing to the accident was the student pilots failure to maintain directional control of the tailwheel-equipped airplane during the landing roll.
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 flight instructor and student pilot were practicing landings in a tailwheel-equipped airplane. The flight instructor stated that on the fifth landing, during the landing roll, the airplane began to drift slightly to the right, and the student pilot inadvertently applied right rudder. In an effort to correct for the right turn, the flight instructor immediately applied full left rudder and brake while simultaneously pulling aft on the control yoke, but the airplane ground looped. During the ground loop the airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and left aileron.
Factual narrative
The flight instructor and student pilot were practicing landings in a tailwheel-equipped airplane. The flight instructor stated that on the fifth landing, during the landing roll, the airplane began to drift slightly to the right, and the student pilot inadvertently applied right rudder. In an effort to correct for the right turn, the flight instructor immediately applied full left rudder and brake while simultaneously pulling aft on the control yoke, but the airplane ground looped. During the ground loop the airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and left aileron.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4582C
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B (UNDESIGNAT)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25526
- Built
- 1953
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Rocheleau Kenneth Raney
- Registered owner
- Rocheleau Kenneth Raney
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 11, 2014
- Departed
- PAMR · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- Z40 · Wasilla, AK
- Airport
- Z40 · Goose Bay, runway 24, 3,000 × 75 ft, gravel
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 13, 2013
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 4,600 total · 500 in this make and model · 4,550 as pilot in command · 55.2 in the last 90 days · 19.5 in the last 30 days · 1.5 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 34
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 15 total · 15 in this make and model · 15 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.57 inHg
- Observed at
- BCV, 11 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 22, 2015, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.5 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.