N2447P

On August 9, 1998, about 1200 Alaska daylight time, N2447P, a wheel equipped Piper PA-22, converted to a tailwheel configuration, received substantial damage while landing on a remote ridge, located about 20 miles east of Copper Center, Alaska. The solo private pilot was not injured. The Title 14, CFR Part 91 flight operated in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight last departed a private airstrip near Tosina, Alaska, about 1100. The intended destination was the ridge where the accident occurred.

During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on August 11, the pilot related he had dropped a passenger off on the ridge earlier, and was returning with additional equipment to prepare for a hunting trip. He said that during the accident landing on the rough and uneven terrain, the main landing gear encountered a deep depression, and the airplane abruptly nosed over.

The pilot said the vertical stabilizer, lift struts, and wing spars were damaged in the accident. He indicated there were no preaccident mechanical difficulties with the airplane.