- Date
- July 24, 2021, 09:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Sandpoint, ID
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N946PDPiper J3C-65
- Defining event
- Takeoff: 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
- FAA report
- 20210724011749A
- Case key
- 103619
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 during landing with a crosswind which, resulted in a runway excursion and impact with terrain.
Findings · 3
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 in the tail wheel-equipped airplane reported that, while performing a touch-and-go landing with a slight crosswind from the right, the airplane drifted off the left side of the runway and into a depression in the terrain. The airplane collided with a berm which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N946PD
- Reported as
- Piper J3C-65
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22698
- Built
- 1947
- Airframe hours
- 605
- Engine
- Continental Motors O-200A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Dickerson Aircraft Inc
- Registered owner
- Dickerson Aircraft Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special); Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 23, 2020 · 53 hours before
- Departed
- ID24 · Sable, ID
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- SZT · Sandpoint, runway 02/20, 5,501 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 74
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- BasicMed, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 15, 2021
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 8,200 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 8,000 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- KSZT
- METAR
- METAR KSZT 241615Z AUTO 0000KT 10SM CLR 20/04 A3019 RMK AO2
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 12, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 37.0 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.