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Atlas / NTSB / ANC12CA081

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ANC12CA081

2012-06-20 Beluga, Alaska, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N77EC

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER J3F-65

Year of manufacture

1941 · 71 years old at event

Engine

FRANKLIN 4AC176B SER (65 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19551230

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AA6715

Registrant of record

PEDERSON ROLAND

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's delayed decision to go around, which resulted in a hard landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot stated that he had been landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane at an off-airport site. On his third landing attempt, he elected to go around, but the airplane landed hard. During the landing, the left main landing gear broke, and the left wing contacted terrain, sustaining substantial damage to the wing spar. In his written statement to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the pilot stated that the airplane may not have been developing full power, but in a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge he said, "the engine was running good when the prop hit." The pilot stated that he had been landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane at an off-airport site. On his third landing attempt, he elected to go around, but the airplane landed hard. During the landing, the left main landing gear broke and the left wing contacted the ground, sustaining substantial damage to the wing spar. In a written statement, the pilot stated that the airplane may not have been developing full power, but in a telephone conversation he said that, "the engine was running good when the prop hit." Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Delayed action-Pilot - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2012_ANC12CA081.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.