- Date
- August 28, 2021, 13:05 local (18:05 UTC)
- Place
- Troy, AL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N32566Maule MXT-7-180
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- BHM FSDO
- FAA report
- 20210828014009A
- Case key
- 103774
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 while landing which resulted in a collision with terrain.
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 performed a preflight inspection of the airplane with no anomalies noted and departed with the intent to practice approaches and landings. After the last practice approach, he set up for a straight in approach with full flaps. He stated that as he approached the runway threshold, “my right wing abruptly rose significantly, and the airplane started to slip to the left”. He applied right rudder and aileron but was unable to correct the airplane’s direction before it struck a tree with the left wing, descended, and came to rest inverted on the edge of the trees. The left wing and fuselage sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that the airplane had no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N32566
- Reported as
- Maule MXT-7-180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 14137C
- Built
- 2018
- Airframe hours
- 163
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-C1F, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 1, 2020 · 54.4 hours before
- Departed
- TOI · Troy, AL
- Destination
- TOI · Troy, AL
- Airport
- PVT · Dunn Private Airstrip, runway 10, 1,400 × 50 ft, grass/turf
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, 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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- August 8, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 99.4 total · 20 in this make and model · 75.7 as pilot in command · 20 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 100° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- TOI, 2 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KTOI 281753Z AUTO 10007KT 10SM FEW034 FEW044 BKN060 32/21 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP194 T03170211 10333 20250 58008=
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 5, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 10.2 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.