- Date
- April 15, 1995, 12:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Koliganek, AK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7483KPiper PA-20-125
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 13, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19950415008099A
- Case key
- 2641
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 student pilot's inadequate compensation for the wind conditions. A factor in the accident is a crosswind.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The student pilot reported he was landing his tail wheel airplane to the northeast with a prevailing 30-35 knot easterly crosswind. He said that during the landing roll, the wind lifted the right wing, which caused the left wing to contact the ground. He said he was unable to maintain directional control, and the airplane subsequently nosed over. The student pilot reported he had two passengers aboard, and had accrued an estimated 4,500 hours of total flight experience.
Factual narrative
On April 15, 1995, about 1200 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-20-125 airplane, N7483K, sustained substantial damage while landing at Koliganek Airport, Koliganek, Alaska. The student pilot and two passengers aboard were not injured. The personal flight operated in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight departed Levelock, Alaska, on April 15, time unknown.
The pilot has not completed NTSB Form 6120.1/2, Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report. He did speak to the NTSB investigator- in-charge via telephone on August 21, 1995. During that conversation, he reported he was landing to the northeast with an estimated surface wind of 30 to 35 knots velocity from the east. He said that the airplane's right wing was lifted by the wind during the landing roll, and that he was unable to maintain directional control. The airplane's left wing subsequently struck the ground, and the airplane nosed over.
The pilot said he had accrued approximately 4,500 total flight hours as a student pilot, with approximately 300 hours in the PA- 20.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7483K
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20-125
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 397
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290D, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Troy D. Peterson
- Registered owner
- Edward D. Peterson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KLL · Levelock, AK
- Airport
- Koliganek, runway 4, 1,500 × ft, gravel
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
- 28
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,500 total · 300 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 35 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 37 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.