- Date
- December 31, 1991, 15:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Cottonport, LA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N81818Maule M-7-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911231057969A
- Case key
- 18430
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 compensate for wind conditions. A factor was the crosswind.
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 student pilot was practicing landings and on the fifth landing a gust of wind from the right caused the right wing to lift and the airplane drifted left and ground looped.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N81818
- Reported as
- Maule M-7-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 4047C
- Airframe hours
- 350
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-J1ASD, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Max Merrick
- Registered owner
- Max Merrick
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 6, 1990 · 60 hours before
- Airport
- NONE · Private, runway 18, 4,000 × 100 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
- 22
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 29 total · 29 in this make and model · 11 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
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 N81818 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.