Piper PA 18-150 N8929L

Summary

On 28 May 2014 at about 21:09 local time, a Piper PA 18-150 registered N8929L was involved in an accident near Cordova, Alaska, 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

28 May 2014 at 21:09

Classification

Accident

Location

Cordova, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

60.5425, -145.7525

Aircraft

Piper PA 18-150

Registration

N8929L

Category

Airplane

Year built

1974

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cordova → Cordova

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC14CA031

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate remedial action during landing on soft terrain, which resulted in a nose-over.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that he made low passes over the flat, tundra site to assess its suitability for landing. He said that, on the second pass, he touched the airplane's wheels down to verify that the surface was firm and then returned for landing. He said that, both visually and during the test-touch, the surface appeared to be "100 percent hard-surface tundra," and the vegetation appeared dry; however, during the end of the landing roll, when the airplane was traveling about 10 mph, the wheels sank into unexpectedly "mushy" ground, and the airplane slowly nosed over. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. The rudder, strut, and wing rib sustained damage. The airplane was equipped with tundra tires. Photographs of the airplane at the accident site showed it inverted in a broad area of flat, grassy tundra, consistent with the pilot's description.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.