Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ely, Nevada 89301
Monday, July 14, 2003 10:30 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While landing on a gravel road the airplane veered off the road's surface, encountered a ditch, and nosed over. During the airplane checkout flight, the certified flight instructor (CFI) authorized the second pilot, who was handling the flight controls, to land on a gravel road. The wind was calm. As the airplane decelerated during the landing rollout, the second pilot failed to maintain the airplane's alignment with the road thus allowing the right main landing gear wheel to roll over the runway's edge. Thereafter, directional control was lost. During the mishap sequence, the CFI had attempted corrective action by applying rudder pressure after the second pilot had already applied rudder pressure. By the time he responded to correct the airplane's course, it had already drifted toward the edge of the runway. When the CFI attempted to regain control by increasing engine power, he found that the second pilot had already opened the engine's throttle. The airplane veered off the road, into a ditch, and nosed over.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain proper alignment with the road and the CFI's failure to adequately supervise the second pilot's landing and his delayed remedial action.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/14/2003
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Ely
Event State NEVADA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 89301
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 390412N
Event Location Longitude 1144743W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 953 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 337
Weather Observation Facility ID ELY
Elevation of weather observation facility 6259
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 14
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 350
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.28
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) 16745
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 14 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1500
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2004 11:17AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Reno, Nevada

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8991Y
NTSB Number LAX03TA233
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Public Use
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-18-150
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18-7409133
Certified Max Gross Weight 2000
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection May 13 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 75
Airframe Hours 19513
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name U.S. Dept of Agriculture
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2150 Centre Ave., Bldg. B, MSC 3W9
Aircraft Owner City Fort Collins
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80526
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code ELY
Departure City Ely
Departure State NV
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 830
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Ely
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 6 2004 6:06PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --