- Date
- August 18, 1998, 18:00 local (Aug 19, 1998, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Cordova, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7099YPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 19, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980818027109A
- Case key
- 43869
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 landing area. A factor associated with the accident was grass covered rocks.
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 private pilot was landing a tundra tire equipped airplane in an open, grass covered meadow to pick up a deer that he had shot earlier in the day. He stated that while on approach, the airplane touched down about 10 feet short of his intended touchdown point. He stated that during touchdown, the right main landing gear struck a large rock that was covered by tall grass, and the right main landing gear collapsed. The right wing struck the ground, and sustained substantial damage. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On August 18, 1998, about 1800 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Piper PA-18-150 airplane, N7099Y, sustained substantial damage while landing at an off airport site located about 75 miles southwest of Cordova, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated about 1745 from a remote hunting camp located about 3 miles southwest of the accident site.
In his written statement to the National Transportation Safety Board, the pilot reported that he was landing in an open, grass covered meadow to pick up a deer that he had shot earlier in the day. He stated that while on approach, the airplane touched down about 10 feet short of his intended touchdown point. He stated that during touchdown, the right main landing gear struck a large rock that was covered by tall grass, and the right main landing gear collapsed. The right wing struck the ground, and sustained substantial damage.
The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7099Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-8135
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gene Chambers
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 21, 1998 · 52 hours before
- Departed
- CVD · 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
- 66
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,276 total · 200 in this make and model · 1,176 as pilot in command · 78 in the last 90 days · 31 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °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 N7099Y · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.