Piper PA-18-150 N4389Z

Summary

On 3 November 2010 at about 23:30 local time, a Piper PA-18-150 registered N4389Z, operated by James D. Unger, was involved in an accident near Carnation, Washington, United States. One person was 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

3 November 2010 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Carnation, Washington, United States

Coordinates

47.6706, -121.9256

Aircraft

Piper PA-18-150

Registration

N4389Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

James D. Unger

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Monroe → Monroe

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR11CA040

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to attain the proper touchdown point during a practice off-airport landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During a local area personal flight, the pilot decided to make a practice landing on a gravel bar near the middle of a river. With limited landing distance, the pilot decided to fly his approach at a low airspeed, with the intention of touching down at the very edge of the bar. While on short final, the airplane encountered a downdraft and its main landing gear tires touched the surface of the water, whereupon it flipped over onto its back and came to rest upon the surface of the gravel bar. According to the pilot, there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. As a result of the accident sequence, the top of the rudder and one lift strut were bent.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.