Skip to content

ANC15CA016

2015-03-30 · Wasilla, Alaska, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport Z40

Current FAA registration · N4582C

Make / Model
CESSNA 170B
Year of manufacture
1953 · 62 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR C145 SERIES (145 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19551005
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A59275

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the student while landing, which resulted in a ground loop. Contributing to the accident was the student pilots failure to maintain directional control of the tailwheel-equipped airplane during the landing roll.

Factual narrative

The flight instructor and student pilot were practicing landings in a tailwheel-equipped airplane. The flight instructor stated that on the fifth landing, during the landing roll, the airplane began to drift slightly to the right, and the student pilot inadvertently applied right rudder. In an effort to correct for the right turn, the flight instructor immediately applied full left rudder and brake while simultaneously pulling aft on the control yoke, but the airplane ground looped. During the ground loop the airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and left aileron. The flight instructor and student pilot were practicing landings in a tailwheel-equipped airplane. The flight instructor stated that on the fifth landing, during the landing roll, the airplane began to drift slightly to the right, and the student pilot inadvertently applied right rudder. In an effort to correct for the right turn, the flight instructor immediately applied full left rudder and brake while simultaneously pulling aft on the control yoke, but the airplane ground looped. During the ground loop the airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and left aileron. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Task monitoring/vigilance-Instructor/check pilot - C
  • F Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student/instructed pilot - F

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2015_ANC15CA016.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing). All research papers