N10572

On September 2, 2000, about 0800 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-18 tundra tire equipped airplane, N10572, sustained substantial damage when it collided with terrain during takeoff from an off airport gravel bar about 86 miles east-southeast of McGrath, Alaska, at 62 degrees, 01 minutes north latitude, 153 degrees, 19 minutes west longitude. The solo private pilot was not injured. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, as a personal flight, returning to Anchorage, Alaska. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed.

The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge during a telephone interview on September 2, that during his preflight he noted frost on the wings and tail section of the airplane. He described removing the frost with a rope, and he believed he had adequately cleaned the lifting surfaces. He stated the airplane had about 32 gallons of fuel, and 75 pounds of survival gear on board. The pilot said the airplane climbed to between five and ten feet above the ground, and then the right wing stalled. He said the right wing struck the ground and the airplane cartwheeled. The pilot stated that he believed frost on the airplane's wings caused the stall. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, tail assembly, and empennage.

The pilot wrote in his NTSB pilot/operator report on September 10, that the winds were gusty at the time of the accident. He wrote that as soon as the airplane lifted off, a gust "caught the aircraft and forced the right wing down."