Piper PA 18-150 N4000Z

Summary

On 21 June 2014 at about 09:15 local time, a Piper PA 18-150 registered N4000Z was involved in an accident near Nenana, 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 2014 at 09:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Nenana, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

64.5100, -148.8169

Aircraft

Piper PA 18-150

Registration

N4000Z

Category

Airplane

Year built

1963

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fairbanks → Nenana

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

ANC14CA045

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's excessive braking following his overshoot of the intended touchdown point on a short airstrip, which resulted in nose-over of the airplane. A contributing factor was the pilot's mental distraction during the 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 circled the short, remote strip to determine the best wind for landing and, upon finding only light and variable winds, he decided to land to the east. He said that he missed his intended landing point by about 30 feet then cut the engine power and didn't retract the flaps. He said that the airplane's tail came up, and he relaxed the brakes, then the tail started to settle. He said that he then reapplied brakes, and the airplane nosed over. He estimated that he had about 100 feet of landing strip remaining ahead of the airplane at the spot where it nosed over. He noted that, during all of his previous landings at the remote strip, he had heavy baggage in the rear seat and cargo area of the airplane. He also noted that he was distracted with other things on his mind during the landing. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane sustained substantial damage to rudder and vertical stabilizer and damage to wing ribs.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.