N7051

On July 9, 2003, about 1400 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-18-160 airplane, N7051, sustained substantial damage when it collided with high brush during the landing roll on a dirt road, about 10 miles south of Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) public use flight by the Alaska State Troopers at the time of the accident. The solo airline transport pilot was not injured. The flight departed the Soldotna Airport, Soldotna, Alaska, about 1315. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company VFR flight following procedures were in effect.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on July 9, the director of operations for the operator said the pilot was returning to Anchorage, from Soldotna, and decided to land on a dirt road for practice. According to the director of operations, the pilot told him he had landed on the dirt road several times before, but on the accident flight, the left wing encountered high brush during the landing roll, and the airplane was pulled off the road. Both of the airplane's wingtips and the left aileron were damaged.