Piper PA-18-150 N82732

Summary

On 3 April 2010 at about 00:00 local time, a Piper PA-18-150 registered N82732, operated by State of Alaska, was involved in an accident near Stony River, Alaska, 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 April 2010 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Stony River, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.5636, -156.2306

Aircraft

Piper PA-18-150

Registration

N82732

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

State of Alaska

Operating rule

Public Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

McGrath → Stony River

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC10TA028

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during taxi from landing, which resulted in the airplane sliding into trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was on a public use wildlife patrol in a ski-equipped airplane when the accident occurred. The pilot reported that he landed on a frozen lake to make contact with the owner of a wilderness lodge, and that while taxiing from landing the airplane slid off the taxi area and into trees. The pilot said that he attempted to determine wind conditions on the ground and elected to land upslope to the east. He reported that his landing slide was longer than anticipated and he thought about going around. After almost coming to a stop, he said that he steered the airplane to the right edge of the landing area and attempted to use power to blow the tail of the airplane around; however, when he added power the skis failed to catch and the left wing struck a tree. Upon exiting the airplane he realized that he had landed downwind and that the wind appeared to be about 6 knots. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident. The pilot noted substantial damage to both wings.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.