No fatalities

4 Apr 2010: PIPER PA-18-150 — Brook Park, MN

Brook Park, MN, United States

On 4 Apr 2010, a PIPER PA-18-150 was involved in an aviation accident near Brook Park, MN. No fatalities were reported. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during landing rollout in variable wind conditions. This summary draws on records from NTSB; 12 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

SourcesNTSBPrimary reportUpdated 1778583330Data APIEditorial standards

A pilot reported that after a normal touchdown, the airplane drifted right, then veered left due to a sudden wind change. Applying full brakes to avoid leaving the runway caused the airplane to nose over, resulting in substantial damage.

Incident Details

The pilot stated that after a normal touchdown, the airplane began to drift toward the right side of the runway. Attempting to correct the drift with left rudder input, the pilot encountered a sudden change in wind direction, causing the airplane to veer to the left. To prevent the airplane from departing the runway surface, the pilot applied full brakes, which led to the airplane nosing over.

Damage

The vertical stabilizer, rudder, both wings, and cabin structure sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures were present that would have precluded normal operation.

Weather Conditions

Approximately 4 minutes before the accident, a local weather station reported the prevailing wind from the southwest at 4 knots. About 16 minutes after the accident, the same station reported wind speed had increased to 8 knots with gusts up to 14 knots.

Contributing factors

Causes

Directional control — Not attained/maintainedPilot

Other contributing factors

Response/compensation