- Date
- May 15, 1999, 17:54 local (May 16, 1999, 01:54 UTC)
- Place
- Dillingham, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N8883CPiper PA-20
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 21, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19990515020569A
- Case key
- 46319
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 preflight by the pilot, who left the rudder gust lock installed, making directional control not possible.
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 stated that during taxi for takeoff the tailwheel equipped airplane did not steer correctly. He said that he decided to return to parking. While returning to park, the airplane turned to the left 270 degrees, substantially damaging the empennage. Postaccident inspection revealed the rudder gust lock was still installed on the tail.
Factual narrative
On May 15, 1999, at 1754 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel equipped Piper PA-20 airplane, N8883C, sustained substantial damage when it departed the left edge of runway 19 at the Dillingham Airport, Dillingham, Alaska. The commercial pilot and sole passenger were not injured. The airplane was being operated under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight by the pilot and his wife. The pilot originally intended to depart for the village of Ekuk, but was returning to park after taxiing for takeoff. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) during a telephone interview on May 18, that during taxi, the airplane did not steer correctly, but he could not determine the reason. He told the IIC that he decided to return to parking. During the return taxi on runway 19, the airplane ground looped to the left, and the pilot was unable to control the turn with rudder input or wheel brakes. The tailwheel went off the left side of the runway onto uneven ground, damaging the tailwheel support structure and center empennage. The pilot told the IIC that after the accident, he discovered the external rudder gust lock still installed.
Reported winds at the time of the accident were 210 degrees at 7 knots. Runway 19 measures 6,404 feet long by 150 feet wide.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8883C
- Reported as
- Piper PA-20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-1465
- Airframe hours
- 1,000
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Albert W. Ball, Jr.
- Registered owner
- Kerrison Limited Partnership
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 4, 1997 · 90 hours before
- Departed
- DLG
- Destination
- KKU · Ekuk, AK
- Airport
- DLG · Dillingham, runway 19, 6,404 × 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
- 55
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Multi-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 24,000 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 23,000 as pilot in command · 320 in the last 90 days · 100 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 25 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DLG
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 N8883C · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.