- Date
- September 4, 2004, 13:20 local (19:20 UTC)
- Place
- Grant, NE
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N91042Piper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 3, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20040904022609A
- Case key
- 60182
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
Directional control not attained and the control interference encountered by the pilot during landing roll. The ditch was a contributing factor.
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 public-use flight veered off the left side of the runway during landing roll. The pilot stated the winds were calm. He applied right rudder but was unable to correct the drift to the left. He then applied additional right rudder and his boot became jammed by the heel brakes. The airplane departed off the runway edge and impacted a ditch.
Factual narrative
On September 4, 2004, at 1320 mountain daylight time, A Piper PA-18-150, N91042, operated by the Nebraska State Patrol, impacted terrain during landing roll on runway 33 (4,800 feet by 60 feet, dry concrete) at Grant Municipal Airport (GGF), Grant, Nebraska. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 public-use flight was not operating on a flight plan. The commercial pilot was injured. The flight originated from Searle Field Airport (OGA), Ogallala, Nebraska, and was en route to GGF.
The pilot stated the winds were calm to 360 degrees at three knots. He made a three a wheel landing and after "slowing considerably" the tailwheel contacted the runway. He continued the landing rollout with the first notch of flaps extended and experienced a "gently left drifting movement". He applied right rudder but was unable to correct the drift to the left. He applied more right rudder and felt the back edge of his left boot being pushed against the metal plate attached to the floor where the heel brakes pass through the floor. He pulled his left boot away from the hole and because of the right rudder pressure, he entered the grass on the right side of the runway. Upon entering the grass, the tail rotated clockwise and the airplane slid sideways into a two-foot deep ditch at the north end of the runway. Due to the depth of the ditch, the left main landing gear dropped down allowing the left wing to drop and impact the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N91042
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-8109067
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Public use
- Registered owner
- Nebraska State Patrol
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- OGA · Ogallala, NE
- Destination
- GGF · Grant, NE
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 2,367 total · 65 in this make and model · 132 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
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 N91042 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.