- Date
- January 26, 2023, 12:15 local (18:15 UTC)
- Place
- Chickala, AR
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N188DLMaule MX-7-235
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, Little Rock FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230126000399A
- Case key
- 106656
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 decision to land on the snow-covered runway and his failure to attain/maintain aircraft control during landing rollout.
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 of the personal flight reported that the flight was destined to his privately-owned airstrip, which was covered with approximately six inches of “very wet and dense” snow. During landing rollout, the airplane’s deceleration was typical but then decelerated faster than the pilot “could imagine.” The airplane tail rose very quickly, and the airplane then nosed over coming to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left and right wings, the vertical stabilizer, and the rudder. The pilot reported that there was no preaccident failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot also reported that the accident could have been prevented by using a snow depth limit of four inches if its liquid water content is unknown, and if landing in similar conditions, to land with a little power to keep the tail down.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N188DL
- Reported as
- Maule MX-7-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 10026C
- Built
- 1985
- Airframe hours
- 3,329.6
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-W1A5D, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Pilot
- Registered owner
- Judah, LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 31, 2022
- Departed
- HOT · Hot Springs, AR
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- AR05 · John Harris Field Airport, runway 36, 3,000 × 50 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- Onboard weather, Handheld GPS, ADS-B, Stall warning system
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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport, Commercial, Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 12, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 17,400 total · 960 in this make and model · 24 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 6 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.31 inHg
- Observed at
- RUE, 10 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 23, 2023, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.6 MB 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.