- Date
- August 3, 2014, 10:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Dayton, OR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N7462KPiper PA20 - Undesignat
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Nose over/nose down
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 9, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- FAA report
- 20140803011949A
- Case key
- 89798
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 decision to land on an unsuitable surface, which resulted in a nose over.
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 made 3 landings at unimproved landing sites on the morning prior to the accident with no issues. Subsequently, while landing on a gravel beach and after the main landing gear touched down with the tail wheel still elevated above the terrain, both main landing gear sank into a soft spot in the gravel; the airplane stopped and nosed over. The substantial damage to the airplane included the engine mount, front wing struts, the top of the rudder, and wing ribs being bent. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot had made 3 landings at unimproved landing sites on the morning prior to the accident with no issues. Subsequently, while landing on a gravel beach and after the main landing gear touched down with the tail wheel still elevated above the terrain, both main landing gear sank into a soft spot in the gravel; the airplane stopped and nosed over. The substantial damage to the airplane included the engine mount, front wing struts, the top of the rudder, and wing ribs being bent. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7462K
- Reported as
- Piper PA20 - Undesignat (UNDESIGNAT)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20-373
- Built
- 1950
- Airframe hours
- 2,668
- Engine
- Lycoming O-290, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Graham L Goad
- Registered owner
- Graham L Goad
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 29, 2013 · 28 hours before
- Departed
- MMV · McMinnville, OR
- Destination
- MMV · McMinnville, OR
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
- 50
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 8, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,986 total · 828 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.03 inHg
- Observed at
- MMV, 7 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 29, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.0 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.