- Date
- May 15, 1999, 13:30 local (21:30 UTC)
- Place
- Nome, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7051Piper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19990515005369A
- Case key
- 46397
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 during landing. A factor in this accident was the crosswind.
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 airplane was being landed on a gravel road. The wind was blowing from 40 degrees left of the nose at 12 knots. The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge that the landing was normal, the airplane 'crow hopped' and drifted to the right. The airplane drifted off the right side of the road, the wheels contacted soft snow, and the airplane nosed down.
Factual narrative
On May 15, 1999, about 1330 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-ski equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N7051, sustained substantial damage when it nosed down during landing about 58 miles north of Nome, Alaska. The solo private pilot was not injured. The airplane was being operated under 14 CFR Part 91 as a public use aircraft by the State of Alaska Department of Public Safety. The flight departed Nome about 1205 to patrol for bear hunters. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company VFR flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported to the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) during a telephone interview on May 17, that he was landing on a clear section of a two-lane gravel road to assist a company airplane which had become stuck in soft snow. There was a 12 knot crosswind, blowing from 40 degrees left of the airplane's nose. The pilot stated that the touchdown and landing roll were uneventful, until the airplane "crow hopped" to the right. The airplane departed the right side of the road. The wheels contacted soft snow, and the airplane nosed down. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left-rear lift-strut. The pilot told the IIC that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7051
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-2932
- Airframe hours
- 12,278
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Alaska Dept Of Public Safety
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 4, 1998 · 61 hours before
- Departed
- OME · AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 456 total · 337 in this make and model · 324 as pilot in command · 92 in the last 90 days · 34 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 12 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
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 N7051 · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.