WPR21LA328
2021-08-19 · Wasilla, Alaska, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport 4AK6
Current FAA registration · N89ZW
- Make / Model
- PIPER PA-18-150
- Year of manufacture
- 1975 · 46 years old at event
- Engine
- LYCOMING IO-320 SERIES (150 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 2 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 19750708
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S AC454F
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot’s inability to maintain control of the airplane during taxi after it encountered the prop wash from a larger airplane that was conducting a high-power engine run on the same taxiway.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, after landing he taxied back up the runway to the north. As he reached the end of the runway, and approached the most northerly taxiway, he had to maneuver around another airplane that was parked partially in the taxiway easement and on the runway. As he began to make a right turn onto the taxiway, the airplane was blown sideways about 15-20 ft as a result of the wind from the operating propellers (prop-wash) from a turbo-prop airplane performing a full engine run at a maintenance hangar. The pilot stated that his airplane was dropped onto its left wing and subsequently was spun to the south. Despite the pilot’s attempt of using full brakes to keep the airplane in place, the airplane slid backward and was temporary lifted airborne before it collided with the ground. As a result of the impact, the airplane sustained substantial damage to the left rear spar and aileron. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact 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.
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Capability exceeded
- — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Aircraft-Ability to respond/compensate
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2021_WPR21LA328.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.
- TallyAero Live Wire Aviation press
- NTSB CAROL Agency ↗
- NTSB Docket Agency ↗
- Aviation Safety Network Aviation press ↗
- Kathryn's Report Aviation press ↗
- Aviation Herald Aviation press ↗
- AVweb Aviation press ↗
- Pilots of America Community ↗
- Reddit /r/flying Community ↗
- FlightAware Aviation press ↗
- AOPA accident database Aviation press ↗
- Google News News ↗
- DuckDuckGo News ↗
Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (maintenance). All research papers
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2026 · Journal article (IJAAA) From Reactive to Predictive: A hybrid Trust-Mediated Adoption Framework for Data-Driven Maintenance in Distributed-Authority Aviation Environments
Modern aviation maintenance operates within increasingly data-intensive technological environments, yet the operational integration of predictive maintenance into routine decision-making remains incon…
- Semantic Scholar 2026 · Article (Reliability Engineering & System Safety) Understanding human error in military aviation maintenance: The role of Performance shaping factors, cognitive workload and error orientation
- Semantic Scholar 2025 · Article (Applied Sciences) Decision-Making Framework for Aviation Safety in Predictive Maintenance Strategies
The implementation of predictive maintenance (PM) in aviation presents unique challenges due to strict safety requirements, complex operational environments, and regulatory constraints.
- Semantic Scholar 2024 · Article (Defence Science Journal) Modelling of Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance Using HFACS ME Human Factors Analysis and Classification System Maintenance Extension and Bayesian Network
Aircraft maintenance is a complex task involving a skilled human workforce, spare parts, and various other resources. Human factors are an inherent element of the human workforce.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (JAAER) A New Trajectory in UAV Safety: Leveraging Reinforcement Learning for Distance Maintenance Under Wind Variations
In the field of aviation, safety is a critical cornerstone, and the operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems is deeply connected with this principle.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (JAAER) Low-Resource Automatic Speech Recognition Domain Adaptation – A Case-Study in Aviation Maintenance
With timeliness and efficiency being critical in the aviation maintenance industry, the need has been growing for smart technological solutions that optimize and streamline the different underlying ta…