Tyonek, AK, USA
N82057
PIPER PA-18
The private pilot was landing a tundra-tire-equipped airplane on a sandy area that was about 900 feet long, and about 50 feet wide. As the pilot applied the brakes in an area of soft sand, the airplane nosed over. The airplane received structural damage to the fuselage, left wing, left wing strut, and the vertical stabilizer. The pilot noted that he could have landed "a little slower so as to not need any braking to get stopped before the soft sand, or land somewhere else."
On August 6, 2008, about 1700 Alaska daylight time, a tundra tire-equipped Piper PA-18 airplane, N82057, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over during the landing roll at a remote airstrip, about 16 miles west-southwest of Tyonek, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, 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 Lake Hood Strip, Anchorage, Alaska, about 1615, and no flight plan was filed. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on August 7, the pilot reported that he was landing toward the southeast on a sandy area that was about 900 feet long, and about 50 feet wide. As he applied the brakes in an area of soft sand, the airplane nosed over. The airplane received structural damage to the fuselage, left wing, left wing strut, and the vertical stabilizer. In the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1) submitted by the pilot, the pilot noted in the section of the report for "Recommendation (How could this accident have been prevented?)" that he could have landed "a little slower so as to not need any braking to get stopped before the soft sand, or land somewhere else."
The pilot's excessive speed and excessive application of brakes during the landing roll on soft, sandy terrain.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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