- Date
- June 10, 2001, 18:57 local (Jun 11, 2001, 00:57 UTC)
- Place
- Billings, MT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N83464Piper PA-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 20, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA-FSDO
- FAA report
- 20010610011909A
- Case key
- 52462
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-in-command's failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft during the landing roll. A contributing factor was the gusty crosswind conditions.
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 pilot was landing his PA-18 tailwheel equipped aircraft on runway 07. Winds at the time of the accident were reported as 020 degrees at 16 knots with gusts to 21 knots. As the aircraft was decelerating a gust of wind picked up the left wing and the aircraft's right wing impacted terrain. The pilot reported to ARFF personnel that he "lost control of the aircraft."
Factual narrative
On June 10, 2001, at 1857 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-18, N83464, registered to and being flown by a private pilot, incurred substantial damage during a loss of control and subsequent wing impact with terrain during the landing roll at the Billings Logan International airport, Billings, Montana. The pilot was uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions existed with gusty winds, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was personal, was operated under 14 CFR 91, and had originated from Billings approximately 45 minutes earlier.
The pilot reported that he landed on runway 07 and just before exiting the runway a gust of wind picked up the left wing. The aircraft's right wing impacted the ground and the aircraft departed the runway. The pilot regained control and continued taxiing the aircraft until an airport aircraft rescue and fire-fighting (ARFF) unit met the aircraft to assess aircraft damage and pilot injury. The ARFF supervisor reported that the right wing was bent upwards approximately 10 inches at a point where the right strut attached to the underside of the wing. The responding ARFF crew interviewed the pilot immediately after their arrival and reported that the pilot told them "I had landed but was attempting to keep my speed up because I thought there was another aircraft landing behind me on Runway 7. I lost control of the aircraft, dipped the right wing and left the pavement north of Runway 7." (Refer to attached report)
The surface winds recorded at Billings at 1856 were reported as 020 degrees magnetic at 16 knots gusting to 21 knots. The pilot reported that there was no mechanical malfunction with the aircraft during the event.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83464
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7609144
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Andrikopoulos, George B.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 9, 2000 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- BIL · Billings, MT
- Airport
- BIL · Billings-Logan International, runway 07, 5,500 × 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
- 43
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- December 21, 1999
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 688 total · 164 in this make and model · 629 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 16 knots, gusting 21
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.65 inHg
- Observed at
- BIL
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.