- Date
- December 8, 2022, 14:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3861PPiper PA-22-150
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Nose over/nose down
- 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
- FAA report
- 20221208019239A
- Case key
- 106662
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, which resulted in a nose over after the main landing gear wheels broke through deep snow on the snow-covered runway.
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 instructor pilot of the tundra tire-equipped airplane reported that, during a touch-and-go maneuver on a snow-covered runway, the airplane decelerated rapidly as the main landing gear wheels touched down into the deep snow, and he was unable to perform the go around maneuver. The airplane subsequently nosed over sustaining substantial damage to the wing lift struts and rudder. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3861P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-3553
- Built
- 1955
- Airframe hours
- 3,780
- Engine
- Lycoming 0-320 SERIES, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 2022 · 157 hours before
- Departed
- PATK · Talkeetna, AK
- Destination
- PAWS · Wasilla, AK
- Airport
- Z40 · Goose Bay, runway 26, 3,000 × 75 ft, snow
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 62
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor, Airline transport, Flight engineer
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 16, 2021
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 10,000 total · 2 in this make and model · 8,000 as pilot in command · 112 in the last 90 days · 23 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 13, 2022
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 109 total · 14 in this make and model · 14 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Temperature
- 15 °F, dew point 5 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- METAR
- PAWS 082256Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR M11/M12 A2946 RMK AO2 SLP984 T11111122 FZRANO
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 6, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.8 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.