Piper PA18 N2364P

Summary

On 2 August 2012 at about 15:00 local time, a Piper PA18 registered N2364P was involved in an accident near McNeal, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 August 2012 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

McNeal, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

Tribal Air (2AZ9)

Coordinates

31.6378, -109.5331

Aircraft

Piper PA18

Registration

N2364P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

McNeal → McNeal

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR12CA342

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's in-flight decision to fly at low level into an unfamiliar canyon, which resulted in an off-airport landing when the airplane's climb capability was exceeded. Contributing to the accident was the airplane’s decreased performance due to the high density altitude.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was taking a passenger on a tour of the local area. The pilot had previously conducted such flights, and he had a normal route that he followed. However, on this occasion, he deviated from that route to "do something a little different" and turned up a canyon that he normally did not fly into. He noticed that the terrain was rising and attempted to climb to clear it. Shortly thereafter, he noticed that the airplane was not going to clear the terrain. He realized that there was insufficient room to execute a course reversal to exit the area and decided to land straight ahead on the rising, vegetation-covered, desert terrain. Immediately after touchdown, the airplane rotated sharply to the right and stopped. The outboard section of the right wing was bent and crumpled. The pilot stated that there were no mechanical problems or failures of the airplane or engine before the accident. The automated weather observation at an airport located 8 miles south of the accident site, at an elevation of 4,150 feet above mean sea level (msl), reported winds from 280 degrees at 3 knots, clear skies, and a temperature of 26 degrees C. The accident site elevation was about 5,400 feet msl, and the estimated density altitude was about 7,600 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.