- Date
- May 22, 1999, 09:41 local (16:41 UTC)
- Place
- Lancaster, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N51450Maule M-4-210C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 22, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990522023899A
- Case key
- 46475
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 maintain directional control during the landing rollout. A factor in the accident was the pilot's limited experience in conventional gear airplanes.
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 stated that there were no discrepancies with the aircraft or the landing through touchdown, and, on the landing rollout, the aircraft ground looped. The pilot received his private pilot certificate on May 7, 1999, and flew a tricycle gear equipped airplane during his training. He recently transitioned into the conventional landing gear equipped Maule and has accrued a total of 9 hours in it.
Factual narrative
On May 22, 1999, at 0941 hours Pacific daylight time, a Maule M-4-210C, N51450 ground looped during landing on runway 24 at General Fox Field in Lancaster, California. The aircraft, operated by the owner and borrowed by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91, sustained substantial damage. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated in Chandler, Arizona, approximately 0600 mountain standard time, and was scheduled to terminate at the Columbia, California, airport with a planned stop in Lancaster. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the personal flight and no flight plan was filed. Reported winds at the time of the accident were 230 degrees at 6 knots.
The pilot was interviewed by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. The pilot stated that there were no discrepancies with the aircraft or the landing through touchdown, and, on the landing rollout, the aircraft ground looped.
The pilot received his private pilot certificate on May 7, 1999, and flew a tricycle gear equipped airplane during his training. He recently transitioned into the conventional landing gear equipped Maule and has accrued a total of 9 hours in it.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51450
- Reported as
- Maule M-4-210C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1108C
- Engine
- Continental IO-360C, 210 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Randall I. Mcnerlin
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- CHD · Chandler, AZ
- Destination
- WJF
- Airport
- WJF · William J. Fox Field, runway 24, 5,001 × 150 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 31
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 75 total · 9 in this make and model · 55 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- WJF
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.