NTSB ANC21LA008 — 2020-12-02 · Juneau, Alaska, United States

Current FAA registration · N4900C

Make / Model: PIPER/GERBI CHARLES R PA 18-150
Year of manufacture: 2013 · 7 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING O-320-A2B (150 hp)
Seats / Engines: 2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 20131205
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A61273

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N4900C Piper PA18 None

Probable cause & findings

The solo student pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during taxi in strong crosswind conditions, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent impact with a ditch.

Factual narrative

The solo student pilot reported that, while taxiing to park, a strong crosswind lifted the right wing and that the airplane then began to roll. He attempted to correct for the roll to no avail, and the airplane subsequently ran off the side of the taxiway and impacted a drainage ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and right lift struts. The student pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

— Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
— Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on equipment
— Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_ANC21LA008.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 (loss of control). All research papers