- Date
- March 30, 1996, 15:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Soldotna, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N6443MStinson 108-3
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 19, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19960330009079A
- Case key
- 2820
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 inadequate compensation for wind conditions. The gusty/crosswind condition 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 landed a tundra tire and tail-wheel equipped airplane in a westerly direction and was slowing to begin taxiing to a parking area. At about that time, the airplane encountered a gust of wind from the right and went off the right side of the runway. The airplane received damage to the left wing tip, fuselage, and the left main gear attach point. The pilot estimated the wind was from the north at 16 gusting 22 knots.
Factual narrative
On March 30, 1996, about 1530 Alaska standard time, a tundra tire equipped Stinson 108-3, N6443M, ground looped while taxiing from landing at the Soldotna airport, Soldotna, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane, registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The certificated private pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight departed Lake Clark, Alaska, about 1315.
The pilot reported that he landed on runway 25 and was slowing to begin taxiing to a parking spot. A gust of wind from the right produced a ground loop and the airplane slid off the right side of the runway. The pilot initially reported minor damage to the left wing. Further inspection on April 17, 1996, confirmed structural damage to the fuselage at the left main gear attach point.
At 1546, a surface observation at Kenai, Alaska, 8 miles northwest of the accident site was reporting, in part: Sky conditions and ceiling, clear; visibility, 70 miles; temperature, 40 degrees F; dew point, 34 degrees F; wind, 020 degrees at 13 knots; altimeter, 30.27 inHg. After landing, the pilot estimated the winds from the north at 16 knots with gusts to 22 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6443M
- Reported as
- Stinson 108-3
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 108-4443
- Engine
- Franklin 6A4-165-B3, 165 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Thomas K. Gotcher
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Lake Clark, AK
- Destination
- SXQ
- Airport
- SXQ · Soldotna, runway 25, 4,973 × 130 ft, asphalt
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 140 total · 60 in this make and model · 110 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 70 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ENA, 8 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.