SCOTTSDALE, AZ, USA
N91003
Piper PA-18-150
The airplane landed hard and ground looped. On the landing rollout the right wing and landing gear were lifted by wind. The airplane veered to the left. The pilot leveled the airplane and attempted to regain directional control with rudder input. He aborted the landing because he thought he was going to ground loop. He added full power but did not retract the flaps. Once airborne he maneuvered to avoid a taxi light and attempted to regain runway heading. The airplane lost lift and landed hard. The pilot noted no mechanical malfunctions with the flight control (rudder) or brake systems.
On August 21, 2000, at 1200 hours mountain standard time, a Piper PA-18-150, N91003, veered off runway 21 and ground looped during the landing rollout at the Scottsdale Airport, Scottsdale, Arizona. The airplane, operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, sustained substantial damage. The commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight that had departed the Glendale Municipal Airport, Glendale, Arizona, at 1140. The flight was scheduled to terminate at Scottsdale. No flight plan was filed. The pilot reported he made a three-point landing with full flaps selected. On the landing rollout the right wing was lifted by the wind and the right landing gear lifted off the ground. The conventional geared airplane veered to the left. He leveled the wings, which put the right landing gear back on the runway. He attempted to regain runway heading with the rudder. He ". . . felt a ground loop coming on." He applied full power to fly out of the ground loop. While attempting to avoid a taxi light and regain runway heading, he failed to retract the flaps. The pilot stated that due to the low airspeed and the maneuver to avoid obstructions the airplane lost lift and sank. The airplane landed hard and ground looped. The pilot noted no mechanical malfunctions with the rudder or brake system.
Failure of the pilot to maintain directional control on the landing rollout. Also causal to the accident was his failure to retract flaps during the aborted landing attempt, which lead to a loss of lift and a hard landing followed by a ground loop.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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