- Date
- March 24, 2000, 10:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Las Cruces, NM
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N442CStinson 108-2
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 4, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20000324010359A
- Case key
- 48882
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 maintain directional control, resulting in an inadvertent ground loop/swerve. Factors were a burnt and unseated intake valve, and the tail wind.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot said that shortly after he took off from runway 26, he felt the engine was not developing enough power, so he made a 180 degree turn and landed on runway 8 with an estimated tailwind velocity of 5 knots. He said he failed to maintain directional control and the airplane skidded to the left and off the runway, bending the right rear spar. The engine was later disassembled and examined. The no. 6 intake valve was found burnt and was not seating properly. The mechanic told the pilot this condition would account for the loss of power.
Factual narrative
On March 24, 2000, approximately 1030 mountain standard time, a [Universal] Stinson 108-2, N442C, registered to and operated by the pilot, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain during a precautionary landing at Las Cruces International Airport, Las Cruces, New Mexico. The private pilot and three passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being operated under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight had just originated.
The pilot said that shortly after he took off from runway 26, he felt the engine was not developing enough power, so he made a 180 degree turn and landed on runway 8 with an estimated tailwind velocity of 5 knots. "[During] rollout, I failed to maintain directional control and, as a result, the airplane skidded to the left," he wrote. "When I departed the asphalt, the right wheel dug in to soft soil and tipped the left wing up and the right wing down, which bent the rear spar."
The engine was later disassembled and examined. The no. 6 intake valve was found burnt and was not seating properly. The mechanic told the pilot this condition would account for the loss of power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N442C
- Reported as
- Stinson 108-2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 108-3442
- Airframe hours
- 2,231
- Engine
- Franklin 6A4-165-B3, 165 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Paul E. Johnson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 27, 1999 · 79 hours before
- Departed
- LRU
- Destination
- LRU
- Airport
- LRU · Las Cruces International, runway 8, 6,073 × 100 ft, asphalt
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
- 67
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 683 total · 638 in this make and model · 646 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N442C · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.