- Date
- August 3, 1994, 15:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Spiritwood, ND
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N6568ZPiper PA-25
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 5, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940803047919A
- Case key
- 9631
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 fuselage tubing in the empennage.
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
Upon landing on the private airstrip, the airplane started to shudder and veered to the left. The pilot tried to regain directional control by applying the right brake and increasing power, but the pilot states these actions only accelerated the turn. The airplane ground looped and came to rest on the left side of the runway. A postaccident investigation revealed eight inches of the vertical fuselage tubing and the aft diagonal tubing in the empennage near the tailwheel assembly were broken in several locations. Rust was observed on the inside of the tubing wall near the breaks.
Factual narrative
On August 3, 1994, at 1530 central daylight time, a Piper PA-25 agricultural airplane, N6568Z, was substantially damaged when the pilot lost directional control during the landing roll at a private airstrip in Spiritwood, North Dakota. The pilot, who was not injured, had just returned from an aerial survey of a field. The 14 CFR Part 137 flight operated in visual meteorological conditions without flight plan.
In a written statement, the pilot reported the airplane started to shudder and veered to the left upon landing on the private airstrip. He tried to regain directional control by applying the right brake and increasing power, but he states these actions only accelerated the turn. The airplane ground looped and came to rest on the left side of the runway.
A postaccident investigation revealed eight inches of the vertical fuselage tube and the aft diagonal tube in the empennage near the tailwheel assembly were broken in several locations. Rust was observed on the inside of the tubing wall near the breaks.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6568Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-2116
- Airframe hours
- 5,680
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B2B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Ag Air, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Ag Air, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special); Special, Provisional (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 22, 1994 · 39 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Destination
- NONE · ND
- Airport
- NONE · Private Airstrip, runway 36, 2,640 × 65 ft, grass/turf
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
- 31
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 500 in this make and model · 150 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 345° at 2 knots
- 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 N6568Z · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.