- Date
- April 21, 1999, 22:10 local (Apr 22, 1999, 06:10 UTC)
- Place
- King Salmon, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1389APiper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 20, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19990421003849A
- Case key
- 46218
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 directional control. A factor associated with the accident was an inadvertent ground loop.
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 certificated private pilot was landing a tundra tire, tailwheel equipped airplane, on a paved dry runway. The pilot stated that the touchdown and the landing roll were uneventful, until the airplane's nose veered slightly to the left. He said he compensated by applying right rudder, but the airplane suddenly ground looped to the left. He stated that the right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing collided with the runway during the ground loop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, and right wing struts. The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On April 21, 1999, about 2210 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire, tailwheel equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N1389A, received substantial damage while landing on runway 29 at the King Salmon Airport, King Salmon, Alaska. The certificated private pilot, and the one passenger aboard were not injured. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight last departed Merrill Field, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1900, and the destination was the King Salmon Airport.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on April 22, the pilot stated that the touchdown and the landing roll were uneventful, until the airplane's nose veered slightly to the left. He said he compensated by applying right rudder, but the airplane suddenly ground looped to the left. He stated that the right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing collided with the runway during the ground loop.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, and right wing struts.
The pilot noted that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1389A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-1220
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger A. Denny
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MRI · Anchorage, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- AKN · King Salmon, runway 29, 8,500 × 150 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
- 36
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 130 total · 20 in this make and model · 100 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 39 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.