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Atlas / NTSB / ANC21LA036

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ANC21LA036

2021-05-06 Willow, Alaska, United States Airport · AK69 None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N7850D

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIPER PA-22-150

Year of manufacture

1957 · 64 years old at event

Engine

LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19570826

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S AAA575

Registrant of record

PUNT MATTHEW L

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilots over application of the brakes while landing on a wet grass runway, which resulted in a loss of control and nose-over.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that, while landing the tailwheel equipped airplane on a wet grass runway, he applied the brakes during the landing rollout and locked up the tires. Subsequently, the airplane slid off the crown of the runway onto dry ground and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings, empennage, and right lift strut. The pilot reported 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

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

  • Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-Wet surface-Effect on operation
  • Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Brake-Incorrect use/operation

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2021_ANC21LA036.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗