Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Little Mt. Susitna Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Anchorage, Alaska 99502
Sunday, September 1, 2002 19:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private certificated pilot was landing at a remote airstrip. The landing strip, oriented southeast/northwest, is about 600 feet long, by 15 feet wide, and is positioned on a ridge of a mountain. The pilot said he was landing toward the southeast, and touched down on the strip about 1/3 of its total distance beyond the landing threshold. He applied the airplane's brakes, but the tires began to slide on wet grass. The airplane departed off the end of the landing strip. The left main landing gear tire struck a hole about 300 feet past the end of the landing strip, and the left main landing gear was sheared off. The airplane received damage to the propeller, the left wing lift strut, and the left wing. The pilot reported that after the accident, he utilized a hand-held wind meter and discovered he had landed with about a 5 knot tailwind. The Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1) submitted by the pilot, contained an optional area for recommendations as to how the accident could have been prevented. The pilot indicated that his recommendation was, "Perform go-around instead of landing long."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to attain the proper touchdown point on a remote airstrip, and his failure to perform a go-around that resulted in the airplane overrunning the end of the strip. Factors in the accident were the pilot's inadequate evaluation of a tailwind condition, and a wet landing surface.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1900 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | ANCHORAGE |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99502 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 612700N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1505700W |
| Event Location Airport | Little Mt. Susitna |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 10 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13131 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA REGIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 1 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2010 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 18 2003 4:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6981B |
| NTSB Number | ANC02LA112 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18-5103 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1850 |
| 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 | Mar 6 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 65 |
| Airframe Hours | 4387 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MONTE TOWNSEND |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99516 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | Z41 |
| Departure City | ANCHORAGE |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1830 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | ANCHORAGE |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 3 2003 1:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 13 |
| Runway Length | 600 |
| Runway Width | 15 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |