NTSB Factual Report

On July 17, 2004, about 1800 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel-equipped Cessna 120 airplane, N1847N, sustained substantial damage when it nosed over after colliding with bushes and a ditch following a loss of control during the landing roll, about 10 miles northeast of Beluga, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) local area personal flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The private certificated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated at the Merrill Field Airport, Anchorage, Alaska. No flight plan was filed, nor was one required.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on July 20, the pilot reported that he was landing toward the south on a gravel road near several oil wells, located in the vicinity of the Theodore River. The pilot said the road was about 2,000 to 3,000 feet long, with about 3 feet of road surface on either side of the main landing gear tires. The pilot said that during the landing roll, the left main tire encountered soft gravel along the left edge of the road. The airplane pulled to the left, and the left wing collided with several bushes. The airplane was pulled further to the left and into a ditch. The airplane nosed over and received damage to the leading edge of the right wing, and the aft right wing lift strut.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing roll, which resulted in airplane departing the landing surface into a ditch, and subsequently nosing over in tall bushes. A factor contributing to the accident was soft terrain along the edge of the landing surface.