- Date
- November 4, 2000, 11:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- St. Marys, GA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3079ZMaule MX-7-180A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20001104015769A
- Case key
- 50602
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 landing, resulting in a sideward skid, a collapsed main landing gear strut, and wing strike.
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
According to the pilot's statement, while conducting stop and go landings, his third attempt resulted in the right wing being lifted by wind gusts, and by the time he had put in control pressures to maintain directional control on the runway, the gusts abated. The result was a right sideward skid that collapsed the right main landing gear, causing the right wing tip and propeller to strike the runway. There were no injuries, however the wing spar sustained bending.
Factual narrative
On November 4, 2000, about 1145 eastern standard time, a Maule MX-7-180A, N3079Z, registered to a private individual, operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, sustained a collapsed main landing gear during landing at St. Mary’s Airport, St. Mary’s, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The private-rated pilot and a passenger were not injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed the same airport about 15 minutes before the accident.
According to the pilot, he was conducting stop and go landings on St. Mary’s runway 22 when a gust of wind lifted the right wingtip during his third landing flare. The pilot's corrective action on the controls took effect about the time the wind gust abated, and a right sideward skid developed. The skid caused the right main landing gear strut to collapse, resulting in a ground strike of the right wingtip and propeller.
According to an FAA inspector, the pilot stated to him that the main factor in the accident was his loss of control of the aircraft on landing. An FAA certified mechanic confirmed that wing damage included damage to the spar.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3079Z
- Reported as
- Maule MX-7-180A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20007C
- Airframe hours
- 278
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-C4F, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Frank Reston
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 27, 2000 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- 4J6 · St. Marys, GA
- Airport
- 4J6 · St. Marys Airport, runway 22, 5,000 × 100 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
- 29
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- February 27, 2000
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 116 total · 29 in this make and model · 68 as pilot in command · 32 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- JAX, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.