- Date
- August 29, 1995, 13:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sleetmute, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7786DPiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 6, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19950829027099A
- Case key
- 2728
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 adequate compensate for wind conditions and failure to maintain directional control of the airplane. The crosswind was a related factor.
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 and a passenger were landing at a remote hunting lodge. The pilot landed to the west with a 7 knot crosswind from the south. During the landing roll, the airplane ground looped to the left and veered off the left side of the airstrip, across a berm. The right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing contacted the ground. The right gear strut failed during the landing. The pilot was concerned that the gear strut may have failed due to internal corrosion; however, an inspection did not reveal any evidence of corrosion.
Factual narrative
On August 29, 1995, about 1300 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA-18, N7786D, crashed during landing at a remote airstrip, about 20 miles south of Sleetmute, Alaska, along the Holitna river. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country hunt/guide business flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The airplane, registered to the pilot and operated by Crescent Lake Lodge, Sleetmute, sustained substantial damage. The certificated private pilot and the sole passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Sleetmute airstrip about 1230.
The pilot reported that he was landing at the lodge to transport a hunter to the lodge. The airstrip is about 1,200 feet long at 250 feet mean sea level, on a 090/270 degree orientation. The pilot landed to the west with a 7 knot cross-wind from the south. During the landing roll, the airplane ground looped to the left and veered off the left side of the airstrip, across a berm. The right main landing gear collapsed and the right wing contacted the ground. The pilot indicated that the right gear strut failed during the landing; however, the landing gear was restrained by the gear safety cable.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, Anchorage Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), reported that the pilot was concerned that the gear strut may have failed due to internal corrosion. An inspection by the inspector did not reveal any evidence of corrosion.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7786D
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-5984
- Airframe hours
- 3,722
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Crescent Lake Lodge
- Registered owner
- Charles E Green
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 30, 1995
- Departed
- SLQ · AK
- Airport
- Cresent Lake Lodge, runway 27, 1,200 × 200 ft, dirt
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
- 49
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 3,500 in this make and model · 100 in the last 90 days · 90 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F
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 N7786D · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.