Amateur-built Glastar accident near Girdwood, Alaska, October 8, 2007
On October 8, 2007 at about 3:00 am local time, a amateur-built Glastar, registered N55XP, was substantially damaged in an accident near Girdwood, Alaska. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's excessive use of the brakes during the landing roll, which resulted in a nose over.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 8, 2007 · about 3:00 am local time
- Place
- Girdwood, Alaska
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built Glastar
- Registration
- N55XP · registry record · serial 5408
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The solo private certificated pilot was practicing off airport landings in a tailwheel-equipped airplane under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The pilot reported that he was landing on a hard-packed, grassy strip, and applied the brakes too hard at the end of the landing roll. He said the airplane nosed over, damaging the vertical stabilizer, rudder, and one lift-strut. The pilot reported that he had landed on the strip on previous occasions, and that there were no known mechanical anomalies with the airplane prior to the accident.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 321 hours in all; 77 in this make and model; 41 in the last 90 days; 5 in the last 30 days; 321 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: April 1, 2007
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 70 hours
- Last inspection: condition inspection, April 1, 2007
- Maximum gross weight: 1,960 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Aerosport O-360 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: Z41 Lake Hood Strip AK at 9:15 pm
- Destination: Girdwood AK
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 9,000 ft
- Temperature: 39°F (4°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N55XP the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.