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LAX98LA174

1998-05-23 · SEDONA, Arizona, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SEZ

N4101E has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (AERONCA 11CC), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing rollout. A factor was the gusty wind.

Factual narrative

On May 23, 1998, at 1215 hours mountain standard time, a Piper PA-18-150, N4101E, ground looped after landing at the Sedona, Arizona, airport. The aircraft, operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and one passenger, the sole occupants, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the personal flight and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed. The flight had originated from the Chandler, Arizona, airport the day of the accident and was scheduled to terminate at Sedona. The pilot stated that he received weather from Sedona's Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) which was reporting winds from 140 degrees at 7 to 10 knots, and recommended usage of runway 3. He reported that he chose to land into the wind on runway 21. The pilot stated that after landing the aircraft was struck by a gust of wind. The airport AWOS was reporting winds from 140 degrees at 7 to 10 knots and recommended that runway 3 be used for landing. The pilot chose to land on runway 21 into the wind. On the landing rollout the aircraft was struck by a gust of wind and subsequently ground looped. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1998_LAX98LA174.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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