Piper PA-18-150 N2873Z

Summary

On 16 March 2000 at about 17:30 local time, a Piper PA-18-150 registered N2873Z was involved in an accident near Three Forks, Montana, 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

16 March 2000 at 17:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Three Forks, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Three Forks (9S5)

Coordinates

45.9093, -111.4308

Aircraft

Piper PA-18-150

Registration

N2873Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bozeman → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA00LA053

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the tailwheel equipped airplane.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot performed a 'stall' landing onto the aircraft's main gear, and then lowered the tailwheel to the ground after about 50 to 100 feet. According to the pilot, once the tailwheel was on the runway surface, it felt as if he had slight left brake applied, and the aircraft began drifting to the left. The pilot applied right rudder, but initially the aircraft kept drifting to the left. During his attempt to return the aircraft to the center of the runway, the airplane groundlooped to the right resulting in a collapsed of the left main landing gear. A post-accident inspection revealed no anomalies or malfunctions in the directional control systems or brake system. According to the pilot, the '...bottom line was failure to maintain directional control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.