- Date
- January 16, 2023, 14:08 local (23:08 UTC)
- Place
- Anchorage, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3904MPiper PA-12
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- 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
- Case key
- 106629
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 an unsuitable landing site, resulting in the main landing gear wheels breaking through the snow, and a subsequent nose over.
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, during landing on a snow-covered frozen lake in a tundra tire-equipped airplane, the main landing gear wheels broke through the hard-packed snow, and the airplane subsequently nosed over, sustaining substantial damage to the wings, lift struts and rudder. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3904M
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-2803
- Built
- 1947
- Airframe hours
- 2,574.3
- Engine
- Lycoming o-320-D2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 21, 2022 · 5 hours before
- Departed
- PALH · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- A11 · Campbell Lake, runway 24, 800 × 15 ft, snow
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, Handheld GPS, ADS-B
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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Last flight review
- January 22, 2023
- Seat
- Center
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 299 total · 181 in this make and model · 227 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Temperature
- 25 °F
- METAR
- METAR PALH 162353Z AUTO 33003KT 10SM FEW120 M04/M06 A2917 RMK AO2 SLP880 T10391056 11033 21050 56007 TSNO=
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 6, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 17.5 MB in all.