- Date
- July 20, 2025, 14:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Pipestone, MN · Located in cornfield adjacent to airport property
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6557QAlon A2
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 9, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20250720012419A
- Case key
- 200584
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 failure of the left brake to release due to corrosion and pitting of the caliper piston and bore, which resulted in a runway excursion.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that when the wheels touched down during landing the airplane pulled hard to the left and departed the runway despite his control inputs to correct the airplane’s direction of travel. The airplane nose landing gear collapsed during the runway excursion and the airplane came to rest inverted in the adjacent cornfield. The wings and empennage sustained substantial damage. After the accident a bystander attempted to turn the left wheel of the airplane and told the pilot he could barely move it. Later when the pilot tried to move the left wheel it turned freely. A post-accident examination of the airplane showed that the brake caliper pistons and piston bores for both main landing gear were corroded and pitted. It is likely the left brake caliper failed to release after being used during the landing due to the corroded brake components.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6557Q
- Reported as
- Alon A2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- A-57
- Built
- 1965
- Airframe hours
- 2,485
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 2025
- Departed
- RAP · Rapid City, SD
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- PQN · Pipestone Muni, runway 09, 2,539 × 196 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Satellite tracking device, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 26, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,245 total · 1,175 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 11 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,400 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.94 inHg
- Observed at
- KMDS, 34 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KMDS 201915Z AUTO 13011G17KT 10SM BKN024 26/23 A2994 RMK AO2 TSNO=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 9, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.2 MB in all.
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 N6557Q · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.