- Date
- December 15, 2016, 11:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Willow, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N56681Maule MX 7
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Unknown or undetermined
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 7, 2017
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20161215022579A
- Case key
- 94538
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 ensure that the runway was clear of any obstacles before departure, which resulted in the airplane impacting a snowdrift.
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 of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, during takeoff from a remote airstrip, the airplane impacted a snowdrift and was "launched" into the air. Subsequently, he heard something break. He added that the airplane appeared to be fine with no indications of a problem other than the left tire "looked a little off." The pilot returned to his original departure airport without further incident. During a postaccident examination, his mechanic discovered that the tubing in the bottom of the fuselage where the oleo strut attached to the main landing gear was broken. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. As a safety recommendation, the pilot added that walking the runway before takeoff might have revealed the snowdrift.
Factual narrative
The pilot of a tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that during takeoff from a remote airstrip, the airplane impacted a snowdrift and was "launched" into the air. Subsequently, he heard something break. He added that the airplane appeared to be fine with no indications of a problem other than the left tire "looked a little off". The pilot returned to his original departure airport without further incident. During a post-accident examination, his mechanic discovered that the tubing in the bottom of the fuselage where the olio strut attached to the main landing gear was broken. The pilot reported no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. As a safety recommendation, the pilot added that walking the runway prior to takeoff might have revealed the snowdrift.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N56681
- Reported as
- Maule MX 7 (235)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 10048C
- Built
- 1987
- Airframe hours
- 9,266
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540 W1A5D, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · December 6, 2016
- Departed
- UUO · Willow, AK
- Destination
- Willow, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Handheld GPS
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
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 12, 2016
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 8,300 in this make and model · 15,000 as pilot in command · 200 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 4,600 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 18 °F, dew point 1 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.36 inHg
- Observed at
- PATK, 46 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 11, 2017, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 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.