Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL, DURING AN OFF-AIRPORT LANDING ON ROUGH/UNEVEN TERRAIN, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT GROUND SWERVE. THE TERRAIN CONDITION WAS A RELATED FACTOR.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Current)
Analysis
On July 5, 1995, about 1430 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-18-160 airplane, N3774Z, received substantial damage while landing at Friday Creek, an off-airport site located approximately 15 miles east of Palmer, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot and the one passenger aboard reported no injuries. The 14 CFR Part 91 pleasure flight departed Anderson Lake about 1400 in visual meteorological conditions for the flight to Friday Creek.
During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on July 6, the pilot reported he was landing on a small, unimproved strip of land near Friday Creek. During the landing roll, the airplane went off the right side of the landing site. The pilot said he corrected to the left, but the tail wheel caught in the rough terrain, and was pulled from the empennage, causing substantial damage to the airframe.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# ANC95LA098