- Date
- April 3, 2010, 13:15 local (17:15 UTC)
- Place
- Maybee, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N125ABMaule MXT-7-180
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 12, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration - Detroit FSDO
- FAA report
- 20100403030769A
- Case key
- 75641
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to compensate for gusting crosswinds resulting in the loss of directional control while landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot was attempting to land on his private airstrip with high, gusting winds. A local weather station reported that the prevailing wind was out of the south-southwest at 27 knots, gusting to 38 knots. The pilot reported that he aligned with the runway 27 centerline and held a crab into the wind until the landing flare and touchdown. Upon touchdown, the airplane encountered a wind gust and the right wing impacted the ground. The airplane then nosed over and came to rest upside down on the grass runway. The right wing, engine firewall, and rudder were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Factual narrative
The pilot was attempting to land on his private airstrip with a high, gusting wind condition. A local weather station reported that the prevailing wind was out of the south-southwest at 27 knots, gusting to 38 knots. The pilot reported that he aligned with runway 27 centerline and held a crab into the wind until the landing flare and touchdown. Upon touchdown, the airplane encountered a wind gust and the right wing impacted the ground. The airplane then nosed over and came to rest upside down on the grass runway. The right wing, engine firewall, and rudder were substantially damaged. The pilot reported that there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N125AB
- Reported as
- Maule MXT-7-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 14102C
- Airframe hours
- 822
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-C1F, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Short Field Deliveries, LLC
- Registered owner
- Short Field Deliveries, LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 21, 2009
- Departed
- PVT · Hillsdale, MI
- Destination
- PVT · Maybee, MI
- Airport
- PVT · Private Airstrip, runway 27, 1,475 × 75 ft, grass/turf
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 15, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 735 total · 662 in this make and model · 735 as pilot in command · 4 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 27 knots, gusting 38
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.64 inHg
- Observed at
- KTTF, 20 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 25, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 712 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.