- Date
- February 1, 2019, 12:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Cedar City, UT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2333MPiper PA 12
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 26, 2019
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20190201000479A
- Case key
- 98940
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 pitch control while conducting a touch-and-go landing on an unimproved, snow-covered airstrip, which resulted in a nose-over.
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 of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, before landing at an unimproved snow-covered airstrip, he chose to do a "low flyby with a light touch" to gauge the landing surface condition. He added that, when the airplane touched down on "what looked like compact snow," the landing gear dug into the snow crust, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the windshield, and the empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, before landing at an unimproved snow-covered airstrip, he chose to do a "low flyby with a light touch" to gauge the landing surface condition. When the airplane touched down on "what looked like compact snow", the landing gear dug into the snow crust, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, windshield, and the empennage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2333M
- Reported as
- Piper PA 12 (No Series)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-1394
- Built
- 1946
- Airframe hours
- 2,609
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 2018
- Departed
- UT47 · Hurricane, UT
- Destination
- Unk · Cedar City, UT
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS
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
- 76
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 10, 2019
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 3,855 total · 109 in this make and model · 3,716 as pilot in command · 37 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.05 inHg
- Observed at
- KCDC, 20 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 1, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 843 KB 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.