- Date
- July 6, 2020, 11:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Marion, MT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N60733Piper PA 18A-135
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20200706009669A
- Case key
- 101566
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 of the airplane while landing in gusting wind conditions, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with a fence.
Findings · 4
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 of the tailwheel-equipped airplane was landing in gusty wind conditions, and he lost control of the airplane when the tailwheel lifted off of the ground. She added engine power, but then immediately reduced power due to the airplane drifting. The airplane subsequently departed the runway surface and collided with a fence. The airplane's left wing and forward fuselage were substantially damaged. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N60733
- Reported as
- Piper PA 18A-135 (B)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-3366
- Built
- 1954
- Airframe hours
- 3,885.9
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 B2C, 165 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 4, 2019 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- MT53 · Marion, MT
- Destination
- MT53 · Marion, ID
- Airport
- MT53 · Carson Field Airport, runway 32, 3,650 × 24 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display
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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 25, 2019
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 947 total · 64 in this make and model · 764 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- MT53, 1 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 9, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 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.
Other investigations on N60733 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.