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SEA97LA135

1997-06-11 · COTTAGE GROVE, Oregon, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 61S

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during the landing, which resulted in an inadvertent ground swerve and gear collapse. The wet runway surface was a related factor.

Factual narrative

On June 11, 1997, approximately 1600 Pacific daylight time, a Bucker 1.131 Jungmann, N1XW, ground looped during the landing roll at Cottage Grove State Airport, Cottage Grove, Oregon. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured, but the aircraft, which was owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal pleasure flight, which had been airborne about 30 minutes, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed, and there was no report of an ELT activation. According to the pilot, he was landing in a light rain and the runway surface was wet. In a written statement, the pilot said that, "During rollout, before brake application, a ground loop developed which I was unable to correct it in time." Although he attempted remedial action to stop the ground loop, the aircraft spun 180 degrees to the right. During the ground loop, the main gear collapsed, and the aircraft's wings impacted the pavement. NTSB records show that this pilot was involved in a ground-loop accident in the same aircraft on July 23, 1993. While landing on a wet runway in his tailwheel equipped biplane, the pilot allowed the aircraft to initiate a ground loop/swerve, and his remedial action was not sufficient to execute a recovery. During the ground loop, the aircraft spun 180 degrees to the right, collapsing the main landing gear. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1997_SEA97LA135.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.