- Date
- August 8, 1997, 17:30 local (Aug 9, 1997, 01:30 UTC)
- Place
- Circle, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N339TPiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 10, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970808021509A
- Case key
- 3041
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 inadequate visual lookout by the pilot, and his selection of a landing area with high vegetation in the landing path. Factors which contributed to the accident were fatigue and the high vegatation.
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 tundra tire equipped airplane touched down at the beginning of the 1,100-foot-long by 50-feet-wide grass strip. The right wing contacted willow brush, and the airplane ground looped. The pilot said he was trying to land at the beginning of the landing area, and did not see the brush. He also noted that he was fatigued.
Factual narrative
On August 8, 1997, about 1730 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N339T, sustained substantial damage when it contacted brush and ground looped during landing at an 1,100 feet long by 50 feet wide grass private airstrip, 28 miles southeast of Circle, Alaska. The solo private pilot was uninjured. The airplane was operated by Ingo, Inc., of Fairbanks, Alaska. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight, visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot stated that upon touchdown, the right wing contacted brush along the side of the airstrip, and the airplane ground looped. The pilot had landed at this same airstrip on previous occasions. He said that brush had grown into the approach end of the strip.
During a telephone interview with the FAA, and in his NTSB Pilot-Operator Report, the pilot indicated he was tired. He also stated that he wanted to use the entire landing length available, and did not see the brush which had grown into the airstrip.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N339T
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-2453
- Airframe hours
- 4,917
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A3A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ingo Hans Brigmann, doing business as Ingo H. Brigmann
- Registered owner
- Ingo Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 1997 · 22 hours before
- Departed
- CRC · AK
- Destination
- 28 Mi Up Yukon, AK
- Airport
- runway 9, 1,100 × 50 ft, grass/turf
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
- 55
- Certificates
- Foreign, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 811 total · 750 in this make and model · 760 as pilot in command · 41 in the last 90 days · 34 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 75 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 55 °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 N339T · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.