Port Alsworth, AK, USA
N8995D
Piper PA-18
The solo airline transport pilot was landing a tailwheel-equipped airplane on a mountain ridge top. During the landing roll, a gust of wind lifted the tail, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the rudder, and both wing lift struts. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
On July 28, 2002, about 2000 Alaska daylight time, a tundra-tire, tailwheel-equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N8995D, sustained substantial damage when the airplane nosed over during landing at an off-airport site, about 10 miles west of Port Alsworth, Alaska. The solo airline transport pilot was not injured. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated about 1945, from a private airstrip located in Port Alsworth. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on July 29, the pilot reported that he was landing to the northwest on a mountain ridge top. The pilot said that during the landing roll, a gust of wind lifted the tail, and the airplane nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the rudder, and both wing lift struts. The pilot stated that there were no preaccident anomalies with the airplane.
The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions during the landing roll, resulting in a nose over. A factor associated with the accident was a wind gust.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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