Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control. Factors include soft, uneven terrain.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The tailwheel equipped pa-20 experienced a main gear collapse after the pilot lost directional control during the landing roll on the soft, uneven turf runway.
Source record
Factual narrative
On July 15, 1994, at 1200 Pacific daylight time (PDT), a tailwheel equipped Piper PA-20, N1540A, experienced a gear collapse during the landing roll at Easton State Airstrip, Easton, Washington. The airline transport rated pilot and his passenger were not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The personal pleasure flight, which departed Wenatchee, Washington about 1045, was operating in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation. The pilot, who had diverted into this remote airstrip in order to wait for weather to improve at his planned destination, said that he lost directional control during the landing roll on the soft, uneven turf runway. -