Piper PA 18 N37WP

Summary

On 2 March 2015 at about 22:25 local time, a Piper PA 18 registered N37WP, operated by Murfreesboro Aviation, was involved in an accident near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 March 2015 at 22:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States

Nearest airport

Murfreesboro Municipal Airport (MBT)

Coordinates

35.8775, -86.3775

Aircraft

Piper PA 18

Registration

N37WP

Category

Airplane

Year built

1951

Engines

1

Operator

Murfreesboro Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Murfreesboro → Murfreesboro

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15CA148

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot's failure to maintain directional control while landing and the flight instructor's delayed remedial action, which resulted in a ground-loop and the left wing dragging the runway.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

During an instructional flight in a tailwheel equipped airplane, the student pilot and flight instructor planned to stay in the traffic pattern for touch and go landing practice. During the landing rollout, the airplane started drifting to the left side of the runway. Subsequently, the student pilot applied a hard correction to the right with the rudder pedals and the airplane ground looped, stopping 180 degrees from the landing direction. The flight instructor stated that he called for "my aircraft" when the student pilot made the hard correction, but the student pilot did not get off rudder pedals. Both the student pilot and flight instructor suspected that inadvertent brake application may have been applied in the heel brake equipped airplane. The flight instructor added that he did not observe any preimpact mechanical malfunctions with the airplane and the winds were light during the time of the accident. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the left wing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.