NTSB Factual Report

On April 22, 2003, approximately 1815 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-18-135, N60733, registered to and being flown/operated by a private pilot, was substantially damaged during a loss of control on takeoff at the Carson Field airstrip (MT53), Marion, Montana. The pilot and his wife were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was personal, was operated under 14CFR91, and was to have been local in nature.

The pilot reported the accident to the NTSB's Northwest Regional Office on the morning of April 23rd and stated that during the takeoff roll on runway 12 (turf), and with a 2-3 knot quartering wind, he lost directional control of the conventionally geared Super Cub and the aircraft departed the runway crossing a ditch and damaging one wing. Winds at Kalispell, Montana, 29 nautical miles northeast were reported at 4 knots from 120 degrees magnetic at 1755. The pilot reported that there was no mechanical malfunction with the aircraft during the event.

The pilot later reported in the narrative of his submitted NTSB Form 6120.1: "Failure to maintain directional control of [the] aircraft [which] resulted in it leaving [the] runway and running through [a] ditch shearing [the] gear legs."

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot-in-command's failure to maintain directional control during the takeoff roll resulting in the aircraft leaving the runway, crossing a ditch and collapsing the landing gear. A contributing factor was the ditch.