GAKONA, AK, USA
N9994Y
Bellanca 7ECA
The private certificated pilot was landing the tailwheel-equipped airplane at a remote airport. During the landing roll, the pilot said the airplane hit a bump on the surface of the runway, which threw the airplane upward and to the right. The airplane's right main landing gear tire then entered an area of tall, wet grass along the right edge of the runway, pulling the airplane further to the right. The pilot said he applied the brakes, and the airplane nosed down along the right side of the runway. The airplane received damage to the propeller and the left wingtip. A postaccident inspection of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed the left wing received damage to at least two wing ribs.
On August 24, 2002, about 1345 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Bellanca 7ECA airplane, N9994Y, sustained substantial damage when the airplane nosed down during landing at the Chistochina Airport, about 23 miles north-northeast of Gakona, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a Title 14, CFR Part 91 visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Gulkana Airport, Glennallen, Alaska, about 1245. On September 4, 2002, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector, Anchorage Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), notified the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), that the pilot called her office on August 29, to report damage to the airplane. During a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC on September 4, the pilot reported that during the landing roll at the Chistochina Airport, the airplane encountered a bump on the surface of the runway which threw the airplane upward and to the right. The airplane's right main landing gear tire then entered an area of tall, wet grass along the right edge of the runway, pulling the airplane further to the right. The pilot said he applied the brakes, and the airplane nosed down along the right side of the runway. The airplane received damage to the propeller and the left wingtip. On September 16, the FAA inspector reported that she examined the airplane at the Chistochina Airport on September 9. She indicated the left wing received damage to at least two wing ribs.
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane, and his excessive use of the airplane's brakes during the landing roll, which resulted in the airplane nosing down. A contributing factor in the accident was wet, high grass along the runway edge.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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