- Date
- July 5, 1995, 13:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Homer, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6946KPiper PA-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19950705022739A
- Case key
- 2680
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 improper (excessive) use of the brakes after the airplane crested the landing site's crown and started downhill.
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 pilot landed the airplane on a ridge located 2000 feet above sea level. The landing area was 1100 feet long and had a lengthwise crown. The pilot stated the airplane touched down in the first 100 feet, and as it rolled over the crown, he began to apply brakes. The airplane's tail came up slowly, the propeller struck the ground, and the airplane nosed over.
Factual narrative
On July 5, 1995, at 1330 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-20 airplane, N6946K, registered to and operated by the pilot, nosed over during the landing roll on a ridge in the Caribou Hills, north of Homer, Alaska. The personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Kenai, Alaska, and the destination was the ridge line on which the airplane crashed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The private certificated pilot and his passenger were not injured and the airplane received substantial damage.
According to the pilot, the ridgeline on which he landed is at the 2000 foot level in the Caribou Hills and is 1100 feet long with a lengthwise crown. He landed the airplane in the first 100 feet of the ridge and when the airplane crested the crown he began braking. The airplane slowed down and the tail began to come up. The propeller struck the ground and the airplane continued to slowly nose over.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6946K
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-50
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Klaben, Paul
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- ENA · Kenai, AK
- Destination
- Caribou Hills, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 670 total · 461 in this make and model · 614 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
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 N6946K · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.