- Date
- July 19, 1997, 17:30 local (Jul 20, 1997, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Wasilla, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6822LPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 10, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970719019049A
- Case key
- 3030
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 failure to maintain aircraft control during takeoff. Factors were the intentional relinquishing of controls by the pilot, and interference with the rudder controls by the nonpilot passenger.
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 airplane impacted trees ten feet above the ground when it departed the 1,000-foot-long by 75-foot-wide runway. The pilot stated that he allowed the nonpilot-passenger to conduct a high speed taxi from the back seat. The passenger's feet became stuck in the rudder pedals, and the airplane became airborne.
Factual narrative
On July 19, 1997, at 1730 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-18-150 airplane, N6822L, was destroyed when it departed the runway and struck trees at the owner's private airstrip located at mile 10, Knik-Goose Bay Road, 10 miles south of Wasilla, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot and single passenger were not injured. The airplane was owned and operated under 14 CFR Part 91 by Garry T. Lynch of Wasilla, Alaska. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, with calm winds.
The pilot, who was seated in the front seat, stated that he was conducting high speed taxi practice, with no intent for flight. He told the NTSB investigator that he gave control to his 18 year old son, who was in the back seat. The son caught his feet in the rudder pedals, the airplane became airborne, then departed the 1,000 foot long, 75 foot wide, gravel airstrip and impacted the trees.
A witness who reported the accident to the Alaska State Troopers, stated that he saw the airplane impact trees at ten feet above the ground.
A review of FAA records revealed that the pilot's medical certificate was expired. The last annual inspection conducted on the airplane was in 1988.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6822L
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7409105
- Airframe hours
- 1,243
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Garry T. Lynch
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 15, 1988 · 232 hours before
- Departed
- Private Strip, AK
- Destination
- AK
- Airport
- Private Strip, runway 36, 1,000 × 75 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Expired
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,480 total · 1,243 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.