Palmer, AK, USA
N8960C
Piper PA-18
The private pilot was landing his tailwheel airplane on a rough and uneven gravel bar. He reported that the main landing gear wheels encountered a depression in the gravel bar during the landing roll, and he was unable to keep the airplane from nosing over and sustaining structural damage. He stated that there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.
On April 10, 2005, about 1430 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N8960C, sustained substantial damage following a loss of control and nose over while landing at a remote, off-airport gravel bar in the Knik River, about 12 miles south-southeast of Palmer, Alaska. The private pilot/airplane owner and the sole passenger were not injured. The local, 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight operated without a flight plan in visual meteorological conditions. The flight departed Butte Muni airstrip, Palmer, about 1430. During a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on April 11, the pilot related that he was practicing touch and go landings on the gravel bar. He said on the accident landing, the main landing gear encountered a depression in the gravel bar, and he was unable to maintain control of the airplane and keep it from nosing over. He noted that the airplane received structural damage to the rudder, lift struts, and fuselage, and that there were no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane.
The pilot's selection of an unsuitable landing site, which resulted in a loss of control and the airplane nosing over during the landing roll.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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