Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's improper flare during the landing touchdown. The pilot's lack of familiarity with the aircraft make and model was a factor in the accident.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot and a passenger were landing at a 700 foot long gravel airstrip at the conclusion of a local flight to search for caribou. The CFR part 91 business flight was conducted in conjunction with an aero hunting lodge operation. The operator reported that the pilot dropped the airplane in from about 50 feet, damaging the right main landing gear and right wing. The pilot indicated that he had accrued 6.1 flight hours in the accident aircraft make and model.
Source record
Factual narrative
On September 7, 1994, at 1800 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-12 airplane, N3363M, owned and operated by Alaska Safari, Inc., an aero lodge, made a hard landing in the area of Sixmile Lake, approximately two miles northeast of Nondalton, Alaska. The commercial certificated pilot-in-command and his one passenger, the sole occupants, were not injured and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The business flight, conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 for the purpose of locating caribou, last departed an area near the Alaska Safari lodge at Nondalton at approximately 1700 and the indented destination was the site of the accident. Visual meteorological conditions reportedly prevailed in the area at the time of the mishap and a company VFR flight plan was in effect. The owner of the aero lodge reported that during the landing, the pilot dropped the airplane in from about 50 feet, collapsing the right main landing gear and substantially damaging the right wing. In the pilot/operator report submitted by the pilot, he indicated that the landing strip was about 700 feet long and he had accrued 6.1 flight hours in the accident aircraft make and model. -