Accident Piper PA-18-150 N4030Z,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 289590
 
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Date:Wednesday 12 January 2011
Time:16:00 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic PA18 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Piper PA-18-150
Owner/operator:Joe Dory
Registration: N4030Z
MSN: 18-7988
Year of manufacture:1963
Total airframe hrs:1935 hours
Engine model:Lycoming O-360-C4P
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Austin, Nevada -   United States of America
Phase: Take off
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Austin, NV
Destination airport:Austin, NV (9U3)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The pilot was on a local flight around his home airport when he decided to see how much snow was on the local mountains. He observed a ridge top airstrip where he had landed on several previous occasions, and saw that most of it was blown clear of snow. He overflew the airstrip, decided that it looked good, and made an uneventful landing. He walked around a bit, looked at snow depths, and then departed back to his home airport. During the takeoff roll, the airplane drifted too far to the right over what he thought was ground covered with light snow. It was actually a snow drift made from snow that had blown to the side of the ridge. The airplane started pulling to the right as a result of contact with the snow drift. The pilot still thought that the airplane would take off without difficulty, but the right main tire broke through the crust and dug in. The airplane nosed over onto the snow drift, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing and fuselage.

Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the takeoff roll.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: WPR11CA098
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 4 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB WPR11CA098

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
05-Oct-2022 15:40 ASN Update Bot Added

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