- Date
- May 19, 1991, 13:55 local (19:55 UTC)
- Place
- Elbert, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3182ZPiper PA-18-180
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 5, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910519016389A
- Case key
- 18092
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 pilot's delay in compensating for wind conditions. Factors were: high winds and a crosswind.
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 pilot had released a glider and had returned to the airstrip. As he flared for a full stall landing, a gust of wind lifted the left wing. Full left aileron failed to stop the upward movement and the right wing scraped the ground. The airplane swerved to the right, went up on its nose, pivoted, and fell on its back. The pilot estimated the winds to be from the south southeast at 30 to 40 mph, gusting to over 45 mph.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3182Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7173
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Operator
- Soar Black Forest
- Airport
- C015 · Black Forest Glider Port, runway 17, 3,700 × 50 ft, gravel
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
- 48
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 655 total · 114 in this make and model · 586 as pilot in command · 75 in the last 90 days · 31 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 16 knots, gusting 23
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.