- Date
- August 9, 1998, 12:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Copper Center, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2447PPiper PA-22
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980809025069A
- Case key
- 43722
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 selection of an unsuitable off-airport landing site. A factor associated with the accident is rough and uneven terrain.
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 reported he was landing at an off airport site on a mountain ridge. During the landing roll, the airplane encountered rough/uneven terrain, and nosed over.
Factual narrative
On August 9, 1998, about 1200 Alaska daylight time, N2447P, a wheel equipped Piper PA-22, converted to a tailwheel configuration, received substantial damage while landing on a remote ridge, located about 20 miles east of Copper Center, Alaska. The solo private pilot was not injured. The Title 14, CFR Part 91 flight operated in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight last departed a private airstrip near Tosina, Alaska, about 1100. The intended destination was the ridge where the accident occurred.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on August 11, the pilot related he had dropped a passenger off on the ridge earlier, and was returning with additional equipment to prepare for a hunting trip. He said that during the accident landing on the rough and uneven terrain, the main landing gear encountered a deep depression, and the airplane abruptly nosed over.
The pilot said the vertical stabilizer, lift struts, and wing spars were damaged in the accident. He indicated there were no preaccident mechanical difficulties with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2447P
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-2818
- Airframe hours
- 3,725
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4J, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Michael W. Renfro
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- Tosina, AK
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
- 28
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 165 total · 80 in this make and model · 105 as pilot in command · 65 in the last 90 days · 32 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- 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 N2447P · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.