- Date
- March 24, 1998, 09:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kalispell, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1770APiper PA-22
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 8, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980324008469A
- Case key
- 42766
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 adequate crosswind correction during landing. A factor was a crosswind.
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 with a left crosswind. He reported that while landing the airplane, which had been modified with a tailwheel installation and a short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) modification, he did not keep full left aileron in. He stated that when he relaxed wheel input, the wind picked up his left wing, at which point the right main landing gear folded and the right wing struck the ground.
Factual narrative
On March 24, 1998, approximately 0930 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-22, N1770A, ground looped while practicing landings at Glacier Park International Airport, Kalispell, Montana. The airplane's main landing gear collapsed and its right wing was substantially damaged in the ground loop, and the private pilot-in-command and one passenger were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local 14 CFR 91 flight out of Glacier Park International, and no flight plan had been filed.
The airplane, which was originally manufactured with tricycle landing gear, had been converted to a tailwheel landing gear configuration in accordance with Univair's FAA Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) number SA45RM. The airplane also had a Crosswinds short takeoff and landing (STOL) modification installed (FAA STC number SA545AL.). The pilot reported that during a crosswind landing on runway 20, he did not keep full left aileron in. He stated that when he relaxed the wheel input, the wind picked up his left wing, at which point the aircraft's right main landing gear folded and the right wing and propeller struck the ground. The pilot reported that no mechanical failure or malfunction was involved in the accident.
Winds at Glacier Park International at 0856 were reported by the airport's automated surface observation system (ASOS) as being from 150 degrees at 7 knots, and were reported as being from 130 degrees at 12 knots at 0956. Runway 20 is an 8,000 by 150 foot asphalt and porous friction coated runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1770A
- Reported as
- Piper PA-22
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-503
- Airframe hours
- 2,777
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Charles B. Allen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 25, 1997 · 96 hours before
- Departed
- FCA
- Airport
- FCA · Glacier Park Intl, runway 20, 8,000 × 150 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
- 42
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 390 total · 12 in this make and model · 369 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 130° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FCA
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.