Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision, and his failure to attain the proper touchdown point. A factor was the rough/uneven terrain.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The student pilot said he landed 'a little long' on the gravel bar, then could not stop the airplane before over running the departure end. The airplane then went down an embankment and nosed over onto its back. The gravel bar was about 800 feet long and the pilot said he had landed there previously several times.
Source record
Factual narrative
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On September 17, 1993, at 1900 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Taylorcraft BC-12B airplane, N5029M, over ran the end of the strip and nosed over while landing on a remote strip in the Lake George drainage, located approximately 20 miles southeast of Palmer, Alaska. The student pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The local personal flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Wasilla, Alaska at 1720. Visual meteorological conditions existed, and no flight plan was filed. Shortly after the accident, during a telephone interview the pilot stated the following in part: "The strip was about 800 feet long, and I had landed there twice previously. I landed a little long, then could not stop the airplane before running off the departure end. The airplane then went into a hole and went over on its back." -