- Date
- July 22, 2023, 10:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Red Lodge, MT · KRED
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N53132Boeing A75N1
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: 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
- 20230722012839A
- Case key
- 192717
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 loss of directional control during landing with wind gusts, which resulted in a ground loop 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 reported that, while landing a tailwheel airplane, a gust of wind pushed the tail to the right. The pilot attempted to correct with rudder and differential braking; however, the airplane ground looped to the left and veered off the left side of the runway impacting a fence and substantially damaging the left wings. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N53132
- Reported as
- Boeing A75N1
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 75-2923
- Built
- 1942
- Airframe hours
- 2,693.4
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 19, 2022
- Departed
- KRED · Red Lodge, MT
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- RED · Red Lodge, runway 16, 4,000 × 75 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- None
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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 30, 2022
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 19,200 total · 105 in this make and model · 8,195 as pilot in command · 201 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots, gusting 10
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.18 inHg
- Observed at
- KPOY, 27 nm away
- METAR
- KPOY 221635Z AUTO 12010KT 10SM CLR 27/02 A3018 RMK AO2
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 2, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 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.