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ANC12CA062

2012-07-03 · Illiamna, Alaska, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PAIL

Current FAA registration · N8889D

Make / Model
PIPER PA-18A 150
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AC3F24

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's inadequate recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a loss of control.

Factual narrative

The pilot was landing a tailwheel-equipped airplane on a lighted, paved, dry runway, at dusk, when he inadvertently bounced during initial touchdown. He applied remedial control inputs, but he overcorrected, and upon touching down again, the airplane swerved to the right. He added engine power to abort the landing, but the airplane ground looped to the right, and hit a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and left elevator. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane. The pilot was landing a tailwheel-equipped airplane on a lighted, paved, dry runway at dusk, when he inadvertently bounced the airplane during initial touchdown. He applied remedial control inputs, but he overcorrected, and, upon touching down again, the airplane swerved to the right. He added engine power to abort the landing, but the airplane ground looped to the right and hit a ditch. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and left elevator. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical problems with the airplane. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2012_ANC12CA062.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). All research papers