N2328M

On August 22, 2007, about 1215 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Piper PA-12 airplane, N2328M, sustained substantial damage when it collided with the propeller of a parked airplane during the landing flare at a remote airstrip, about 27 miles northwest of Kenai, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Lake Hood Strip, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1115, and no flight plan was filed.

On August 27, 2007, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, Anchorage Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), reported that he received a telephone call from the owner of a Cessna 185, N7372H, that had received damage to its propeller while parked at an airstrip near the Kustatan River. The pilot reported that it was struck by the accident airplane on August 22.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on August 29, 2007, the accident pilot reported that he was landing toward the southeast at an airstrip that was about 1,100 feet long, and about 20 feet wide. The pilot said that he saw the unoccupied Cessna airplane parked close to the airstrip threshold. During the landing flare, the left wing of the accident airplane struck the propeller of the parked airplane. The accident airplane then collided with the ground and received structural damage to the left wing spar, left aileron, and the right elevator.

In the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1) submitted by the pilot, the pilot reported that during the landing, his attention was diverted from the parked airplane. In the portion of the report titled: "How could this accident have been prevented," the pilot indicated that he could have landed beyond the Cessna 185.