- Date
- June 19, 2019, 18:00 local (Jun 20, 2019, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Friday Creek, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N357WEKirk Ellis Wendell Ptundradactyl
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 13, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- Case key
- 99706
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 excessive brake application during landing on a short runway due to his lack of familiarity with the toe brakes, 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 reported that, during a test flight, he landed on an 800-ft-long off-airport, sand-and-gravel surface, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder and right wing. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot added that the accident could have been prevented by landing on a surface that "would not [have] require[d] the use of much braking until I more fully acclimated myself to the toe brake setup in this plane and to sort out any braking pressure issues a little more thoroughly."
Factual narrative
The pilot in the experimental amateur-built, tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that during a test flight, he landed on the 800ft-long off airport, sand and gravel surface, and the airplane nosed over. The pilot added that the accident could have been prevented by landing on surfaces that, "would not require the use of much braking until I more fully acclimated myself to the toe brake setup in this plane and to sort out any braking pressure issues a little more thoroughly." The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder and the right wing. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N357WE
- Reported as
- Kirk Ellis Wendell Ptundradactyl
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 001
- Built
- 2019
- Airframe hours
- 25
- Engine
- Superior/Lycoming SL-0-360-A1X3, 185 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- PABV · Chugiak, AK
- Destination
- Friday Creek, AK
- Equipment
- Satellite tracking device, 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
- 49
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 30, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,021 total · 12 in this make and model · 965 as pilot in command · 77 in the last 90 days · 41 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.17 inHg
- Observed at
- PAAQ, 1 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 5, 2019, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.9 MB in all.