Teller, AK, USA
N2475M
Piper PA-12
The pilot reported he was landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane on a gravel runway with a prevailing left crosswind. During the landing roll, the airplane swerved to the left, and he attempted to regain directional control and abort the landing by applying right brake, right rudder, and engine power. He was unable to abort the landing, and the right main landing gear tire deflated. The airplane subsequently nosed down, and received substantial damage to the fuselage, left aileron, and horizontal stabilizer.
On June 8, 2003, about 1645 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Piper PA-12 airplane, N2475M, sustained substantial damage when it nosed down during an aborted landing at the Quartz Creek airstrip, located about 50 miles east-northeast of Teller, Alaska. The private pilot and the two passengers were not injured. The Title 14, CFR Part 91 local personal flight operated in day visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight was operated by the pilot/airplane owner. The flight departed Taylor, Alaska, about 1615, and the destination was the Quartz Creek airstrip. According to the pilot's written statement, he was landing on runway 12 at the Quartz Creek gravel-surfaced airstrip with a left crosswind from approximately 060 degrees (magnetic) at 6 to 7 knots. He reported that he made a correction for the crosswind, but that during the landing roll, the airplane veered to the left. He attempted to regain directional control, and abort the landing by applying right brake, right rudder, and engine power. He was unable to successfully abort the landing, the right main landing gear tire deflated, and the airplane nosed down, damaging fuselage longerons, the left aileron, and the left tip of the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot indicated there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.
The pilot's inadequate compensation for a crosswind and his failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll, resulting in a loss of control and nose down of the airplane. A factor in the accident was a crosswind.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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