SPOKANE, WA, USA
N80622
Globe GC-1B
The pilot was landing on a 4,500-foot by 100-foot concrete runway. The pilot reported that 'On landing...a gust of wind [picked up] the left wing and skidded the plane sideways....' The airplane departed the right side of the runway about 900 feet down the runway, and its gear collapsed. The pilot reported that no mechanical malfunction or failure was involved. Winds during the time frame of the accident were reported as generally down the runway at 3 knots. The pilot had received a tailwheel endorsement two days before the accident, and the accident flight was the pilot's third flight in the accident aircraft without a flight instructor on board.
On July 24, 1999, approximately 0657 Pacific daylight time, a Globe GC-1B, N80622, was substantially damaged in a loss of control and subsequent departure from runway 3L during landing at Felts Field, Spokane, Washington. The private pilot-in-command, who owned the aircraft, and a pilot-rated passenger were uninjured in the accident. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed for the 14 CFR 91 personal flight from Colville, Washington. Information relayed to the NTSB at the time of initial accident notification indicated that during landing, the aircraft ground looped and departed the runway off the right side 900 feet down the runway. The aircraft's landing gear collapsed during the accident sequence of events. On his NTSB accident report, the pilot stated: "On landing at Felts - a gust of wind [picked up] the left wing and skidded the plane sideways - the side pressure [collapsed] the landing gear...." The pilot indicated on his NTSB accident report that no mechanical malfunction or failure was involved in the accident. Felts Field runway 3L is a 4,500-foot by 100-foot concrete runway. The runway is equipped with a 4-light visual approach slope indicator (VASI) system set to a 3-degree glide path, with a threshold crossing height of 50 feet. Winds at Felts Field were reported as being from 040 degrees at 3 knots at 0653. According to copies of logbooks submitted by the pilot, the pilot had recently purchased the accident aircraft, and had logged all of his 25.8 hours in make and model since April 23, 1999. However, the pilot's logbook excerpts indicated that the accident flight was only the pilot's third flight in the accident aircraft in which a flight instructor was not on board. The pilot received his tailwheel aircraft endorsement on July 22, 1999, two days before the accident flight, and the pilot had logged a total of 1.4 flight hours on the two previous flights (July 22 and 23, 1999) on which he did not log flight instruction in the accident aircraft.
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control. A related factor was the pilot's lack of experience in tailwheel aircraft.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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