ANC99LA112

The solo student pilot was attempting to takeoff with a 10 knot left crosswind. He told the NTSB investigator-in-charge the airplane's nose initially swerved right. The pilot said he overcorrected, and the 29 inch tundra tires grabbed the warm, dry, newly surfaced asphalt. The airplane ground looped to the left, collapsing the right main landing gear assembly, and damaging the right wing. The pilot had accumulated 24 hours of total flight experience at the time of the accident.

On June 30, 1999, about 1700 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire equipped Cessna 170B airplane, N2806C, sustained substantial damage when it ground looped during takeoff from the New Wasilla Airport, Wasilla, Alaska. The solo student pilot was not injured. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) solo training flight. 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 August 12, that during the initial takeoff from runway 21, the airplane's nose initially swerved right. The pilot said he overcorrected, the 29 inch by 11 inch tires grabbed the warm, dry, newly surfaced asphalt, and the airplane ground looped to the left. The right wingtip struck the runway, the right main landing gear support structure failed, and the right main landing gear assembly collapsed. The pilot described a 90 degree left crosswind of 10 knots. Runway 21 measures 3,700 feet long by 75 feet wide. The pilot had accumulated about 24 hours of total flight experience, all in the accident airplane, at the time of the accident.