ILIAMNA, AK, USA
N72775
Cessna 120
The private certificated pilot was landing a tailwheel-equipped airplane. During the landing roll, the passenger's feet became entangled in the rudder pedals. The airplane departed the left side of the runway, went into a ditch, and nosed over. The airplane received damage to the propeller, the vertical stabilizer, and the left wing lift strut. The wind was calm.
On September 13, 2000, about 2100 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 120 airplane, N72775, sustained substantial damage during landing at the Iliamna Airport, Iliamna Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight to Naknek, Alaska, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot was not injured. The sole passenger received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Homer Airport, Homer, Alaska, at 1900. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on September 14, the pilot reported that while en route to Naknek, she decided to land at Iliamna for the evening. The pilot said she touched down on runway 35, and during the landing roll, the passenger's feet became entangled in the rudder pedals. The airplane departed the left side of the runway, went into a ditch, and nosed over. The airplane received damage to the propeller, the vertical stabilizer, and the left wing lift strut. At 2053, an automated weather observation system (AWOS) at Iliamna was reporting, in part: Wind, calm; visibility, 10 statute miles; clouds and sky condition, 4,400 feet broken, 5,500 feet overcast; temperature, 46 degrees F; dew point, 42 degrees F; altimeter, 29.44 inHg.
A failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the airplane. Factors in the accident were the passenger's inadvertent interference with the controls, and a ditch along the runway.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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