- Date
- December 23, 2004, 16:00 local (Dec 24, 2004, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Wenatchee, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N28525Fairchild 24W-41A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20041223033459A
- Case key
- 60770
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 during the landing roll. A frozen brake was a factor.
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 reported that during the landing roll on runway 30, the right side brake/tire made a noise and was dragging. The aircraft began turning to the right at 90 degrees as the pilot attempted correction action. The aircraft started to "hop" across the surface as the aircraft eventually ground looped. The left main landing gear folded underneath the fuselage, the right main landing gear was bent outward, the left wing tip contacted the surface and the propeller was damaged. The pilot indicated that he believed that the brake might have frozen from ice as he did fly through precipitation while en route and the temperatures were low, about 20 degrees F. No evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction to the brake system was found after the aircraft was moved by maintenance personnel.
Factual narrative
On December 23, 2004, about 1600 Pacific standard time, a Fairchild 24W-41A, N28525, registered to and flown by the pilot as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, ground looped during landing at Pangborn Memorial, Wenatchee, Washington, and collapsed the left main landing gear. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft was substantially damaged and the private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight departed from Nampa, Idaho, about three hours prior to the accident.
During a telephone interview and subsequent written statement, the pilot reported that during the landing roll on runway 30, the right side brake/tire made a noise and was dragging. The aircraft began turning to the right at 90 degrees as the pilot attempted correction action. The aircraft started to "hop" across the surface as the aircraft eventually ground looped. The left main landing gear folded underneath the fuselage, the right main landing gear was bent outward, the left wing tip contacted the surface and the propeller was damaged.
The pilot indicated that he believed that the brake might have frozen from ice as he did fly through precipitation while en route and the temperatures were low, about 20 degrees F. No evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction to the brake system was found after the aircraft was moved by maintenance personnel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N28525
- Reported as
- Fairchild 24W-41A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- W40-134
- Engine
- Warner SS165, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Alan K. Macon
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- S67 · Nampa, ID
- Destination
- EAT · Wenatchee, WA
- Airport
- EAT · Pangborn Memorial, runway 30
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
- 52
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 711 total · 5 in this make and model · 0 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.