Aviation Safety Reporting System

I was coming south toward the highway and the power line spraying corn. As I approached the highway and wires I realized that I could not make it up and over the wire without hitting it. I saw that there was sufficient room to go under the wire and avoid a wire strike and accident.

With landing assured, I began to ease the power back while rounding out into a flare. At about 5 feet AGL, the right control yoke came loose in my hand and the aircraft immediately pitched down toward the runway.

I write this in the hope that seaplanes no longer be allowed to take off under a traffic pattern of a non-towered airport when the use of radios are not required.

I applied brakes and then they locked up. I felt the aircraft skid and lost control. It hit a sign off the runway and then came to a stop in the grass area of the runway, during which two of the landing gears failed.

A friend in an aircraft on the ground made a radio call warning us that it appeared that the Cirrus was “right on top of us” and to break off.

As a low-time private pilot and student instrument pilot, this was an incredible learning opportunity and lesson that I will remember for the rest of my flying career.

As I reflect on how all this happened, I ask the basic question: Why are there taxiways on this airport which are not visible to the Tower? Both of these locations look and act like ramps to me. Neither taxiway goes anywhere except to a dead end.

I cannot know if I heard the complete truth from the 172 pilot. Perhaps they were not using push-to-talk when they thought they were. Perhaps the long day waiting for a tire change had made them frazzled.

Early in my training I often mixed up the two ends of the same runway. I don’t know why. I practiced runway directions a lot and got comfortable with the numbering system.