- Date
- August 22, 1999, 16:00 local (Aug 23, 1999, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fairbanks, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5402HPiper PA-14
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19990822043099A
- Case key
- 47398
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 inadvertent stall during the landing flare.
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 stated that during the landing flare, about three feet above the runway, the airplane stalled, and the main landing gear struck the runway. The pilot added: 'I'm just fairly new in this airplane, and I just haven't gotten the hang of it yet.' The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right landing gear attach point, and a fuselage longeron.
Factual narrative
On August 22, 1999, about 1600 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-14 airplane, N5402H, sustained substantial damage while landing at a private airstrip located about six miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The certificated private pilot, and the sole passenger aboard, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Cantwell Airport, Cantwell, Alaska, about 1500.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on September 14, the pilot reported that during the landing flare, about three feet above the runway, the airplane stalled, and the main landing gear struck the runway. The pilot added: "I'm just fairly new in this airplane, and I just haven't gotten the hang of it yet."
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector from the Fairbanks Flight Standards District Office, traveled to the accident airstrip on August 30, and examined the airplane. The inspector reported that the right landing gear attach point, and a fuselage longeron, sustained substantial damage during the hard landing.
An NTSB Pilot/Operator report (form 6120.1/2) was sent to the accident pilot on August 23, 1999, but the completed report was not returned.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5402H
- Reported as
- Piper PA-14
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 14-512
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John P. Bast
- Registered owner
- Fred D. Bast
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 3, 1999
- Departed
- TTW · Cantwell, AK
- Airport
- runway 27, gravel
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
- 26
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 241 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °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 N5402H · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.