- Date
- February 20, 2007, 09:00 local (16:00 UTC)
- Place
- Prescott, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N39KBMaule M-7-235B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 25, 2007
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20070220003799A
- Case key
- 65322
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 inadequate preflight inspection, and his failure to maintain sufficient airspeed to avoid a stall/mush during an aborted takeoff, which resulted in a loss of control, and an in-flight collision with terrain. Factors associated with the accident are snow, wing contamination (snow), and an inadvertent stall.
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 pilot decided to abort the takeoff in the initial climb, and the airplane landed hard, collapsing the right main landing gear. Immediately after takeoff the airplane did not feel right to the pilot, and he pulled the throttle off to abort the takeoff. During the landing attempt the airplane stalled and landed hard, collapsing the right landing gear. Examination of the airplane by airport management personnel immediately after the accident revealed that the wing had approximately 1/2-inch of wet snow covering 2/3 of the upper surface of the wing, including the vortex generators. The pilot stated that during his preflight he had only cleared some of the snow from around the vortex generators.
Factual narrative
The pilot decided to abort the takeoff in the initial climb, and the airplane landed hard, collapsing the right main landing gear. Immediately after takeoff the airplane did not feel right to the pilot, and he pulled the throttle off to abort the takeoff. During the landing attempt the airplane stalled and landed hard, collapsing the right landing gear. Examination of the airplane by airport management personnel immediately after the accident revealed that the wing had approximately 1/2-inch of wet snow covering 2/3 of the upper surface of the wing, including the vortex generators. The pilot stated that during his preflight he had only cleared some of the snow from around the vortex generators.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N39KB
- Reported as
- Maule M-7-235B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 23082C
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Hancock Farms
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KPRC · Prescott, AK
- Destination
- KA09 · Mojave Valley, AZ
- Airport
- KPRC · Prescott, runway 21R, 4,846 × 60 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
- 78
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 100 in this make and model · 20 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 32 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- KPRC
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.