- Date
- April 10, 2022, 18:05 local (22:05 UTC)
- Place
- Bald Head Island, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4693SPiper J3C-65
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20220410005269A
- Case key
- 104920
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 failure to maintain control during landing on a soft surface.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot stated that he was landing on a beach. During the landing roll, the airplane’s main landing gear “dug in the soft sand” and the airplane flipped over, which resulted in substantial damage to the rudder, fuselage and longerons. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical deficiencies that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4693S
- Reported as
- Piper J3C-65
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18373
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 3,489
- Engine
- Continental C-90-12, 90 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wicker Kirk
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 1, 2021
- Departed
- CRE · N. Myrtle Beach, SC
- Destination
- ILM · Wilmington, NC
- Equipment
- None
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
- 63
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 11,800 total · 700 in this make and model · 52 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 8 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Icing
- Clear
- Observed at
- KSUT, 5 nm away
- METAR
- KSUT 102215Z AUTO 31008G15KT 10SM CLR 19/M02 A3005 RMK AO2 T01891017
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 2, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.2 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.