Piper PA-18A-150 N8980D

Summary

On 10 January 1999 at about 22:20 local time, a Piper PA-18A-150 registered N8980D, operated by Sun West Aviation, Inc., was involved in an accident near Tucson, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 January 1999 at 22:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Tucson International (TUS)

Coordinates

32.1510, -110.9303

Aircraft

Piper PA-18A-150

Registration

N8980D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Sun West Aviation, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX99LA071

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's inadvertent activation of the right heel brake on the conventional geared aircraft, which resulted in a loss of directional control and an inadvertent ground loop. A contributing factor was inadequate supervision.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was receiving his first flight in a conventional geared aircraft. The instructor had informed him before takeoff that when they were coming in to land that he needed to stay off the heel brakes. On the landing rollout, the aircraft made a slight turn to the left and the student applied right rudder to correct the divergence. The airplane then made an abrupt turn to the right. Both student and instructor applied full left rudder to counteract the right turn but could not regain directional control before the airplane ground looped. The brake system was inspected with no mechanical malfunctions noted.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.