- Date
- March 22, 2005, 16:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Chandler, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4101EPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 7, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20050322004929A
- Case key
- 61192
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 directional control.
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 airplane ground looped off the runway and collapsed the right main gear during a touch-and-go. The pilot reported that upon touchdown, he lost directional control and the airplane veered left and then ground looped off the runway. The right wing tip was damaged upon contact with the ground, and the right main landing gear collapsed. The pilot reported that the airplane had no mechanical failures or malfunctions prior to the loss of control.
Factual narrative
On March 22, 2005, about 1630 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-18-150, N4101E, ground looped during an attempted touch-and-go landing at Chandler Municipal Airport, Chandler, Arizona. Chandler Air Service, Inc., was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured; the airplane sustained minor damage. The local personal flight departed Chandler about 1615. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The approximate global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of the primary wreckage were 33 degrees 16 minutes north latitude and 111 degrees 48 minutes west longitude.
The pilot was conducting his second touch-and-go landing. Upon touching down, he stated that he lost control and the airplane veered to the left and spun around 180 degrees. The plane came to rest off the runway on the right wing tip with the right main gear collapsed.
The pilot reported that the airplane had no mechanical failures or malfunctions prior to the loss of control.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4101E
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-78098068
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Chandler Air Service, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KCHD · Chandler, AZ
- Destination
- KCHD · Chandler, AZ
- Airport
- CHD · Chandler Municipal Airport, runway 22L, 4,850 × 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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 106 total · 21 in this make and model · 16 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
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 N4101E · 5
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.