- Date
- August 4, 2001, 13:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Las Cruces, NM
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N116CPMaule MT-7-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Status
- Completed · report September 20, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20010804020339A
- Case key
- 52961
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 properly recover from a bounced landing. Contributing factors include his misjudgment of the flare and his lack of total experience in make and model.
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 airplane landed hard and porpoised several times. The final impact with the runway collapsed the nose landing gear. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall and nose landing gear. The pilot reported 2,200 hours of total flight time in all aircraft and 11 hours of flight time in make and model.
Factual narrative
On August 4, 2001, at approximately 1300 mountain daylight time, a Maule MT-7-235, N116CP, operated by National Headquarters Civil Air Patrol (CAP), was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Las Cruces International Airport, Las Cruces, New Mexico. The pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for this repositioning flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight departed Las Cruces at approximately 1230.
According to the pilot, he was returning from a glider tow operation and was landing on runway 22. He deployed full flaps, "4th notch," for the approach. The airplane landed hard and porpoised several times. The final impact with the runway collapsed the nose landing gear. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall and nose landing gear. Witnesses corroborated the pilot's accident report.
According to the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB form 6120.1/2), the pilot reported 2,200 hours of total flight time in all aircraft and 11 hours of flight time in make and model.
According to the "Normal Procedures" in Section III of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved Airplane Flight Manual, the recommended flap setting for landing is "Normally third notch (40 degrees/full flaps) - other positions permissible."
A manufacturer's representative stated that, the Maule MT-7-235, is normally equipped with a flap configuration providing only "three notches" of flap selection and that the use of a specific flap selection for landing is "optional." He also stated that different versions of the Maule can be equipped with a flap configuration providing a "fourth notch."
Weather at the time of the accident was, wind, 300 degrees at 3 knots; visibility, 10 statute miles; temperature, 31 degrees Celsius; dew point, 9 degrees Celsius; and an altimeter setting of 30.15. The airport elevation is 4,454 feet mean sea level (msl). The calculated density altitude is 7,187 feet msl.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N116CP
- Reported as
- Maule MT-7-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18063C
- Airframe hours
- 46
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-WIA5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public aircraft · Part 91
- Registered owner
- National Headquarters CAP
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 30, 2001 · 46 hours before
- Departed
- LRU · Las Cruces, NM
- Destination
- LRU · Las Cruces, NM
- Airport
- LRU · Las Cruces International, runway 22, 7,503 × 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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- January 7, 2001
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,200 total · 11 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC)
- Wind
- 300° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- KLRU
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.