- Date
- February 15, 1999, 10:45 local (17:45 UTC)
- Place
- Prescott, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N2077UMaule M-4-220C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990215001369A
- Case key
- 45996
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 compensation for the crosswind condition, which led to a loss of directional control and an inadvertent ground loop.
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
In his statement, the private pilot said he was conducting a local flight to practice landings and take a friend for a ride. Upon returning to the airport, the pilot made a three-wheel landing and encountered a gust of wind. He initially recovered, and then encountered a second gust of wind. The aircraft ground looped off the runway and rolled into a ditch before coming to a stop.
Factual narrative
On February 15, 1999, at 1045 hours mountain standard time, a Maule M-4-220C, N2077U, ground looped, veered off the runway, and came to rest in a ditch while landing on runway 30 at the Ernest A. Love Field in Prescott, Arizona. The pilot was returning to the airport to practice landings after a local flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 of the Federal Aviation Regulations. The aircraft, owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and one passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Ernest A. Love Field at 0933 on the day of the accident.
A Federal Aviation Administration inspector from the Scottsdale Flight Standards District Office examined the aircraft and interviewed the pilot. In a statement to the inspector, the private pilot stated he was conducting a local flight to practice landings and take a friend for a ride. Upon returning to the airport, the pilot made a three-wheel landing and encountered a gust of wind. He initially recovered, and then encountered a second gust of wind. The aircraft ground looped off the runway and rolled into a ditch before coming to a stop.
The private pilot had received a tailwheel endorsement on January 9, 1999, and a high-performance endorsement earlier in the morning just prior to the accident. He had approximately 10 hours logged in this make and model aircraft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2077U
- Reported as
- Maule M-4-220C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2070C
- Airframe hours
- 2,450
- Engine
- Franklin 6V 350, 220 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William H. Jensen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 24, 1998 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- PRC
- Airport
- PRC · Ernest A. Love Field, runway 30, 4,040 × 75 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
- 53
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 128 total · 11 in this make and model · 68 as pilot in command · 38 in the last 90 days · 17 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 50 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PRC
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 N2077U · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.