DEN00LA014

The pilot's landing on runway 19 was normal and the wind was calm. During landing roll, the aircraft departed the runway to the right, traveled down a 10 degree embankment and struck a fence. The pilot said he applied left rudder pressure without effect. According to an FAA inspector who interviewed the pilot following the accident, the pilot told him that he may have inadvertently applied pressure to the rudder pedal rather than to the brake. A functional test of the rudder and brake system was performed and no discrepancies were noted. The pilot had accumulated a total of 7 hours in the PA-18-150, 2 of which were as pilot-in-command. He had received his tailwheel endorsement on the day of the accident.

On November 2, 1999, approximately 1650 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-18-150, N4285Z, was substantially damaged when it departed the side of the runway and collided with a fence during landing roll at Bullfrog Basin Airport, Bullfrog, Utah. The private pilot and airline transport pilot certificated passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan had been filed for the personal cross-country flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated from Canyonlands Field Airport, Moab, Utah, at 1445.

According to the pilot, prior to landing at Bullfrog airport, he contacted the airport's UNICOM (Universal Integrated Communication) frequency and requested an airport advisory. He was told that the preferred runway was 19. He approached the airport for landing from the southeast and noticed that the windsock indicated the wind was calm. The pilot stated that the downwind, base and final approach segments to runway 19 were "normal." He landed the aircraft just past the runway threshold. The main wheels touched down first, followed by the tail wheel. According to the pilot, the aircraft continued in a normal landing roll, then veered to the right. The airplane departed the runway and traveled down a 10 degree embankment, impacting a fence and sustaining damage to the horizontal stabilizer, both right wing struts, the nose cowling, and propeller.

The pilot stated in his accident report that during landing rollout, he applied left rudder pressure "without effect." The pilot was interviewed by an FAA inspector following the accident. According to the inspector, the pilot told him that he may have inadvertently applied pressure to the rudder pedal rather than to the brake. A functional test of the rudder and brake system was performed at the facilities of the Spanish Fork Flying Service, Spanish Fork, Utah. No discrepancies were noted.

According to the pilot's accident report, he had accumulated a total of 7 hours in the PA-18-150, 2 of which were as pilot-in-command. A review of the pilot's logbook revealed that the pilot had received his FAR 61.31(i) endorsement to act as pilot-in-command of a tailwheel airplane on the day of the accident.