- Date
- September 29, 2021, 10:25 local (18:25 UTC)
- Place
- Willow, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N9724PPiper PA-18-150
- Defining event
- Landing-aborted after touchdown: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- 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
- Parties
- FAA Flight Standards
- FAA report
- 20210929016869A
- Case key
- 104026
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 clearance to terrain following a go-around.
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 reported completing numerous overflights of the intended off-airport landing area. He was executing a touch and go to be sure the terrain was not too rough. He touched down at his intended spot, but the airspeed was higher than anticipated and he applied full throttle to initiate a go-around. The airplane became airborne, but the landing gear did not clear a hill beyond the intended landing area. The airplane nosed over before coming to a rest with damage to the right-wing strut and the rudder. The pilot reported there were no failures or malfunctions related to the airplane before the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9724P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7609003
- Built
- 1975
- Airframe hours
- 9,446
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 17, 2020 · 80 hours before
- Departed
- 6AK7 · Wasilla, AK
- Destination
- PAUO · Willow, AK
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 9, 2021
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 13,429 total · 959 in this make and model · 58 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 0° at 0 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.54 inHg
- Observed at
- PAWS, 18 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 18, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 16.9 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.