- Date
- January 19, 1989, 10:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Medicine Lake, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N83596Piper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 17665
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
Selection of unsuitable terrain by the pilot, resulting in a collision with snowdrifts during landing ground run.
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 commercial plt and a friend landed in a snow covered field during a personal transportation flt. The left ski struck compacted snow drifts and the left axle broke. With the left ski gone, the landing gear dug into the snow and the acft nosed down.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83596
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7709096
- Airframe hours
- 2,017
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Carlson Aerial, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 16, 1988 · 94 hours before
- Departed
- PWD · Plentywood, MT
- Destination
- NONE · Baineville, MT
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
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 1,200 in this make and model · 4,900 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 15 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 10 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg