- Date
- September 9, 1998, 08:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lihue, HI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N88932Emroth-Emair MA-1B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980909022919A
- Case key
- 43892
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 pilot to maintain directional control of the aircraft during the landing.
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 lost directional control on the landing and the aircraft veered off to the left into a field. The tail wheel trunion collapsed and the left landing gear hit a large rock and broke off. The pilot reported that the winds were calm at the time of the accident and did not report experiencing any mechanical malfunctions with the aircraft prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
On September 9, 1998, at 0800 hours Hawaiian standard time, an Emroth-Emair MA-1B, N88932, ground looped while landing in a sugar cane field approximately 5 miles northwest of Lihue, Hawaii. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, and the commercial pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The aerial application flight, conducted under 14 CFR Part 137, originated at 0730 at the Lihue airport. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported that he was landing on a paved roadway that ran through a sugar cane field to reload the aircraft with fertilizer for the 11th load of the day. He reported that the road was oriented east to west, and that he was landing toward the west. As the tail wheel touched down, the airplane veered off to the left into the field. The left landing gear hit a large rock on the shoulder of the airstrip and broke off. Both lower wings were damaged and the tail wheel trunion was collapsed.
The pilot stated that the winds were calm at the time of the accident, and that on previous flights that day, he had landed to the west and taken off to the east. He did not report experiencing any malfunctions with the aircraft prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N88932
- Reported as
- Emroth-Emair MA-1B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 044
- Airframe hours
- 3,198
- Engine
- Wright R-1820-202A, 1,200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Murray Air Limited
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 10, 1998 · 99 hours before
- Departed
- LIH · Lihue, HI
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
- 72
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 29,056 total · 8,000 in this make and model · 33 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F
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 N88932 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.