Piper J3F-65 N77EC

Summary

On 21 June 2012 at about 04:30 local time, a Piper J3F-65 registered N77EC was involved in an accident near Beluga, 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

21 June 2012 at 04:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Beluga, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.4289, -150.7914

Aircraft

Piper J3F-65

Registration

N77EC

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Anchorage

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC12CA081

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's delayed decision to go around, which resulted in a hard landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he had been landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane at an off-airport site. On his third landing attempt, he elected to go around, but the airplane landed hard. During the landing, the left main landing gear broke and the left wing contacted the ground, sustaining substantial damage to the wing spar. In a written statement, the pilot stated that the airplane may not have been developing full power, but in a telephone conversation he said that, "the engine was running good when the prop hit."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.