- Date
- September 12, 1997, 13:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Placerville, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N44PNNewberg PL-4A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 21, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970912037679A
- Case key
- 29903
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
failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the aircraft during the rollout phase of the landing sequence, which resulted in a gound swerve.
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 experimental airplane ground looped while landing. The pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings and reported that, 'On my landing I got a bad bounce from my tail wheel and was too slow in reacting and it got away from me.'
Factual narrative
On September 12, 1997, at 1300 hours Pacific daylight time, an experimental Newberg PL-4A, N44PN, ground looped while landing at the Placerville, California, airport. The pilot had begun a personal flight from San Carlos, California, and was en route to Carson City, Nevada, with a planned fuel stop in Placerville. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, and the pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. No flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported that his first landing at Placerville was "rough" so he decided to practice touch-and-go landings before going on to Carson City. The pilot said that on his last landing, "I got a bad bounce from my tail wheel and was too slow in reacting and it got away from me."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N44PN
- Reported as
- Newberg PL-4A
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 154
- Engine
- Continental A75, 75 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John Scribner
- Registered owner
- Richard F. Ostercher
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed
- SQL · San Carlos, CA
- Destination
- PVF · CA
- Airport
- PVF · Placerville, runway 23, 4,201 × 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
- 57
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 600 total · 2 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.