- Date
- July 5, 1991, 13:18 local (18:18 UTC)
- Place
- Wimberley, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N83MKThorp T-18CW
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910705026429A
- Case key
- 23362
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 failure of the airport personnel to maintain the airstrip in an operable condition and the pilots failure to maintain runway alignment on touchdown.
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
During a landing on a grass airstrip the pilot failed to maintain runway alignment on touchdown and lost control when his left main wheel entered long grass. Left wing contacted 5 foot tall weeds adjacent to the 40 feet wide airstrip. The airplane veered left and struck a large ant mound resulting in the airplane ground looping to the inverted position. The pilot reported that touchdown occurred ten feet left of runway center.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N83MK
- Reported as
- Thorp T-18CW
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1367
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James W. French
- Registered owner
- James W. French
- Departed
- T98 · San Marcos, TX
- Airport
- NONE · Woodbreck, runway 15, 2,200 × 40 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
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 2,594 total · 740 in this make and model · 2,502 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Observed at
- AUS, 40 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.