- Date
- August 14, 1997, 20:30 local (Aug 15, 1997, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Longmont, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2849MPiper PA-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 2, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970815022439A
- Case key
- 20315
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 in command's failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft, resulting in an inadvertent ground loop.
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 elected to land on runway 29 because the 'wind (was) light with (a) south component.' The airplane bounced and veered left and the pilot overcorrected. The aircraft began swerving and the pilot overcorrected again to the right, 'inadvertently using rudder and brake.' The airplane then ground looped. The computed crosswind component was 3-1/2 knots and the tailwind component was 6 knots. The left main landing gear was sheared off, and both the forward and aft left wing spars were bent.
Factual narrative
On August 14, 1997, approximately 2030 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-12, N2849M, was substantially damaged when it ground looped during landing at Longmont, Colorado. The two commercial-rated flight instructors aboard were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Buena Vista, Colorado, approximately 1920.
According to the pilot, he and his pilot-rated passenger were returning from California and had landed at Buena Vista for fuel. The flight from Buena Vista to Longmont was uneventful. Approaching Longmont, the pilot elected to land on runway 29 because there was a "wind light with (a) south component." The pilot said the airplane bounced and veered left, and he overcorrected. The airplane began swerving and the pilot overcorrected again to the right, "inadvertently using rudder and brake." The airplane then ground looped. The pilot said, "Application of power to effect a go-around would have been the correct recovery procedure." The left main landing gear was sheared off, and both the forward and aft left wing spars were bent.
The nearest official weather station is Broomfield-Jefferson County Airport (BJC), located 29 miles to the south of Longmont Airport. At the time of the accident, BJC recorded the wind at 080 degrees at 6 knots. Based on these recorded winds, it was computed that the crosswind component was about 3-1/2 knots and the tailwind component was 6 knots (see exhibit).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2849M
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-1402
- Airframe hours
- 2,881
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-B2B, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Alvin M. Terry
- Registered owner
- 49 Mike Partnership
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 5, 1996 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- 7V1 · Buena Vista, CO
- Destination
- 2V2
- Airport
- 2V2 · Longmont Airport, runway 29, 4,200 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,830 total · 100 in this make and model · 1,680 as pilot in command · 57 in the last 90 days · 37 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 80° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 45 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BJC, 29 nm away
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 N2849M · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.