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LAX97LA323

1997-09-12 · PLACERVILLE, California, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PVF

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

failure of the pilot to maintain directional control of the aircraft during the rollout phase of the landing sequence, which resulted in a gound swerve.

Factual narrative

On September 12, 1997, at 1300 hours Pacific daylight time, an experimental Newberg PL-4A, N44PN, ground looped while landing at the Placerville, California, airport. The pilot had begun a personal flight from San Carlos, California, and was en route to Carson City, Nevada, with a planned fuel stop in Placerville. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, and the pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. No flight plan was filed. The pilot reported that his first landing at Placerville was "rough" so he decided to practice touch-and-go landings before going on to Carson City. The pilot said that on his last landing, "I got a bad bounce from my tail wheel and was too slow in reacting and it got away from me." The experimental airplane ground looped while landing. The pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings and reported that, 'On my landing I got a bad bounce from my tail wheel and was too slow in reacting and it got away from me.' Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1997_LAX97LA323.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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