- Date
- October 25, 1998, 11:10 local (16:10 UTC)
- Place
- Chamblee, GA
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7357DPiper PA-22-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 27, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981025030239A
- Case key
- 45535
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 use of right wheel brake to correct for a left drift during landing rollout resulting in a ground loop to the right and the left wing contacting the runway.
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
During landing, as the tail wheel touched down, the aircraft began to drift to the left. The pilot applied right rudder and then right wheel brake in an attempt to correct the drift. The aircraft then ground looped to the right and the left wing contacted the runway. Postcrash examination of the left wheel brake and tail wheel steering showed no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction.
Factual narrative
On October 25, 1998, about 1110 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-22-150, N7357D, registered to an individual, ground looped and struck the left wing on the runway, during landing at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, Chamblee, Georgia, while on a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft received substantial damage and the airline transport-rated pilot and one passenger were not injured. The flight originated from Gainesville, Georgia, the same day, about 1040.
The pilot stated that during landing roll, as the tailwheel touched down, the aircraft began to veer to the left. He applied right rudder and then right wheel brake to control the left drift and the aircraft then ground looped to the right. As the aircraft ground looped, the left wing contacted the runway.
After the accident, examination of the aircraft's left wheel brake and tailwheel by an aircraft mechanic showed no evidence of mechanical failure or malfunction. (See attached letters)
The aircraft was reported to have received minor damage when FAA inspectors spoke with the pilot after the accident. As repairs were being made to the aircraft, the left wing spars were found to be bent. This damage was reported to FAA and NTSB on December 17, 1998.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7357D
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-5155
- Airframe hours
- 1,864
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Neal H.Ferguson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 29, 1998 · 16 hours before
- Departed
- GVL · Gainesville, GA
- Airport
- PDK · Peachtree-Dekalb, runway 2R, 6,001 × 100 ft, concrete
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,046 total · 391 in this make and model · 2,900 as pilot in command · 78 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PDK, 1 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.