- Date
- October 20, 1998, 14:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Billings, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N335PAPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 11, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981020034749A
- Case key
- 45162
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
Directional control was not maintained. Inadequate remedial action 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, the airplane began to fishtail. He stated that he tried to stop the fishtail effect with rudder control, however, the condition worsened. He then applied the brakes and the airplane ground-looped to the left. The right wing contacted the surface before the airplane came to rest off the side of the runway.
Factual narrative
On October 20, 1998, at 1415 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-18-150, N335PA, registered to and operated by the pilot as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, ground-looped during the landing roll at the Billings Logan International Airport, Billings, Montana. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged and the private pilot and his pilot rated passenger were not injured. The flight had departed from Absarokee, Montana, about 30 minutes prior to the accident.
During a telephone interview, the pilot reported that during the landing roll, the airplane began to fishtail. The pilot stated that he tried to stop the fishtail effect with rudder control, however, the condition worsened. The pilot then applied the brakes and the airplane ground-looped to the left. The right wing contacted the surface before the airplane came to rest off the side of the runway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N335PA
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7909158
- Airframe hours
- 1,560
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2B, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Robert J. Redman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 14, 1998 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- Absarokee, MT
- Airport
- BIL · Billings Logan Intl, runway 28L, 3,800 × 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
- 59
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,087 total · 68 in this make and model · 90 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 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.