Nenana Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Nenana, Alaska 99760
Sunday, June 24, 2007 15:30 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The private certificated pilot was conducting a personal local flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The pilot reported that during landing, the airplane touched down on the runway centerline, and veered sharply to the right. He applied left rudder and power, but the airplane continued to the right, and ground-looped. The left main landing gear collapsed, and the left wing struck the ground. The pilot said there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident, and that the left wing and left horizontal stabilizer, were damaged during the accident. The pilot reported that faster reactions after touchdown might have prevented the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing, which resulted in a ground-loop and main landing gear collapse. Factors contributing to the accident were the ground-loop and landing gear collapse.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/24/2007
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1530
Event Time Zone --
Event City Nenana
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99760
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 643250N
Event Location Longitude 1490426W
Event Location Airport Nenana
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PANN
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 420
Weather Briefing Completeness --
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 21
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
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) 22514
NTSB Notification Source FAA Anchorage, ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jun 24 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 29 2007 8:02AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Fairbanks, FSDO-01

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5540A
NTSB Number ANC07LA055
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
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-20
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 20-982
Certified Max Gross Weight 1950
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jan 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 2648
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Westley Rice
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Fairbanks
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99709
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Wayne Brown
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Fairbanks
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 99509
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 No
Departure Airport Code PAFA
Departure City Fairbanks
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time 1445
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code PANN
Destination City Nenana
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Oct 23 2007 4:01PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 4600
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --