N4320Z

On August 7, 2003, about 2025 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N4320Z, sustained substantial damage when it collided with trees and nosed over following a loss of control while landing at a remote site, about 38 miles east-northeast of Healy, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country business flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot, doing business as Max Schwab Master Guide, for the purpose of transporting a hunting client. The commercial certificated pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated about 2000 from a remote area along Kansas Creek, about 32 miles east-northeast of Healy. No flight plan was filed, nor was one required.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), was notified of the accident by an air taxi operator from Talkeetna, Alaska. The air taxi operator said he received a cell phone call from the pilot, saying he crashed near Dry Creek, east of Healy. The pilot said he was transporting a hunting client to the area, and indicated he would continue the hunting trip and return on August 14.

During a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC, on August 19, the pilot reported that he departed Kansas Creek for a short flight to Dry Creek and planned to land on an area of tundra about 600 feet long and 50 feet wide. The pilot said he had landed at the spot in the past and was landing toward the south. The pilot indicated that about 3 feet above touchdown, a 20 to 30 knot gust of wind from the west blew the airplane into several willow trees. The airplane came to rest inverted, and received damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported that the wind conditions had previously been light and variable. The landing area is located in a creek drainage, surrounded by mountains.