- Date
- May 28, 2020, 10:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sterling, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N7164BPiper PA18
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 20200528009319A
- Case key
- 101362
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 failure to maintain directional control during takeoff in gusting wind conditions, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with trees.
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 reported that he was departing a private grass airstrip that was bordered by large trees in his tailwheel-equipped airplane. During the departure roll, and just as the airplane began to liftoff, a gust of wind pushed the airplane to the left and into trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and both wings. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal operations. In the recommendation section of the NTSB Accident/Incident Reporting Form 6120.1, the pilot stated that the accident may have been prevented if he had avoided taking off in a narrow area surrounded with obstructions in crosswind conditions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7164B
- Reported as
- Piper PA18 (150)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-5190
- Built
- 1956
- Airframe hours
- 7,867
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 A2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 28, 2019
- Departed
- PVT · Sterling, AK
- Destination
- PVT · Sterling, AK
- Airport
- PVT · Pvt, runway 360, 2,000 × 80 ft, grass/turf
- 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 10, 2019
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 5,485.7 total · 5,062 in this make and model · 5,485.7 as pilot in command · 0.6 in the last 90 days · 0.6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 9, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 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.
Other investigations on N7164B · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.