Noatak, AK, USA
N35CL
Cloud-Wag Aero Sportsmen
The pilot reported he was landing his homebuilt tailwheel airplane at a remote, off-airport site. He said he made the landing approach too high and too fast, and the airplane touched down farther down the site than he intended. He was unable to stop it before it overran the end of the landing site and encountered brush and soft terrain. The main landing gear subsequently collapsed, and the airplane received structural damage to the left wing.
On August 22, 2003, about 2130 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Cloud-Wag Aero Sportsmen homebuilt airplane, N35CL, sustained substantial damage when the airplane overran an off-airport site during landing, and the main landing gear collapsed. The accident site was approximately 10 miles north of Noatak, Alaska. The private pilot and sole passenger were not injured. The Title 14, CFR Part 91 personal flight operated in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The flight departed Kotzebue, Alaska, about 2100, and the destination was the off-airport site. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 25, at 0700, the pilot related that he and the passenger were on a hunting trip. He said he was landing to the west on the 500 to 600 foot long site, and made the landing approach too high and too fast. He indicated that the airplane touched down too far down the runway, and he couldn't stop it before it went off the end of the site, encountered brush and soft terrain, and the main landing gear collapsed. The pilot reported that in addition to the main landing gear, the left wing was damaged, and the left aileron would not function after the accident. He said he was unaware of any preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.
The pilot's misjudgment of the airplane's distance and speed, which resulted in the airplane not attaining the proper landing touchdown point and overrunning the landing site.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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