- Date
- April 20, 2012, 10:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Sierraville, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N8451YPiper PA-18-150
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 28, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120420007539A
- Case key
- 83443
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 did not maintain directional control during the landing roll.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot had just performed two uneventful practice landings in the tailwheel-equipped airplane. For the third attempt, he performed a three-point landing, and the airplane began to drift left. He countered with full engine power, but the airplane drifted beyond the runway edge. The landing gear then struck a berm, and the airplane bounced into the air, snagging a barbed wire fence. The main landing gear subsequently dug into the earth, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and both wings during the accident sequence. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot had just performed two uneventful practice landings in the tail-wheel equipped airplane. For the third attempt, he performed a three-point landing, and the airplane began to drift left. He countered with full engine power, and the airplane drifted beyond the runway edge. The landing gear then struck a berm, and the airplane bounced into the air, snagging a barbed wire fence. The main landing gear subsequently dug into the earth, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer and both wings during the accident sequence. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8451Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-8867
- Airframe hours
- 2,239
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 11, 2011 · 57 hours before
- Departed
- O79 · Sierraville, CA
- Destination
- O79 · Sierraville, CA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- O79 · Sierraville, runway 21, 3,260 × 50 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 42
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 23, 2011
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,897 total · 32 in this make and model · 2,849 as pilot in command · 41 in the last 90 days · 27 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.29 inHg
- Observed at
- KTRK, 19 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 10, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.9 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.