On August 30, 2009, about 1750 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel equipped, Piper PA-18 airplane, N743, sustained substantial damage when it nosed down during landing at an off-airport site, about 25 miles southeast of Bethel, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in support of a law enforcement mission, as a visual flight rules (VFR) public use flight, under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The solo commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company flight following procedures were in effect. The airplane departed Bethel about 1415.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 31, a spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service said the pilot reported applying the brakes heavily during landing, and the airplane nosed down. He said there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident, and that the airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage during the accident.