Scottsdale Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Scottsdale, Arizona 85250
Monday, August 21, 2000 12:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane landed hard and ground looped. On the landing rollout the right wing and landing gear were lifted by wind. The airplane veered to the left. The pilot leveled the airplane and attempted to regain directional control with rudder input. He aborted the landing because he thought he was going to ground loop. He added full power but did not retract the flaps. Once airborne he maneuvered to avoid a taxi light and attempted to regain runway heading. The airplane lost lift and landed hard. The pilot noted no mechanical malfunctions with the flight control (rudder) or brake systems.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure of the pilot to maintain directional control on the landing rollout. Also causal to the accident was his failure to retract flaps during the aborted landing attempt, which lead to a loss of lift and a hard landing followed by a ground loop.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/21/2000
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1200
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City SCOTTSDALE
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85250
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport SCOTTSDALE AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SDL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1510
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1150 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SDL
Elevation of weather observation facility 1501
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 16000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 40
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 97
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 54
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10899
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 21 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1223
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 1 2001 7:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N91003
NTSB Number LAX00LA309
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-18-150
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-18-150
Aircraft Serial Number 18-8109059
Certified Max Gross Weight 1750
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 5 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 3
Airframe Hours 1452
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT L. FISK
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City SCOTTSDALE
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85258
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name HOWARD C. FISK
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code GEU
Departure City GLENDALE
Departure State AZ
Departure Country
Departure Time 1140
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code SDL
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 17 2001 10:40AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 21
Runway Length 8249
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --