- Date
- February 10, 2008, 13:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Cumming, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N721HMaule M-7-260C
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20080210833279A
- Case key
- 68048
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 an aborted landing. Contributing to the accident were the gusty crosswind conditions.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
According to the pilot of the Maule M-7-260C, he attempted a landing on runway 21 after a "normal pattern approach." He made a crosswind correction on final approach, and at touchdown, encountered a windshear that caused the airplane to balloon 20 to 25 feet at "near zero" forward groundspeed. The pilot attempted to go around, but the crosswind shift blew the airplane into hangars bordering the left side of the runway. The pilot further noted that he couldn't regain lateral control when the wind shifted to a right crosswind, and that if he had allowed the airplane to descend from the balloon height with only a partial application of power to soften the landing, he might not have been blown into the hangars. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the airplane. Runway 21 was 1,800 feet long and 35 feet wide. Winds, recorded at an airport 12 nautical miles to the southeast about the time of the accident, were from 280 degrees at 16, gusting to 26 knots.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot of the Maule M-7-260C, he attempted a landing on runway 21 after a "normal pattern approach." He made a crosswind correction on final approach, and at touchdown, encountered a windshear that caused the airplane to balloon 20 to 25 feet at "near zero" forward groundspeed. The pilot attempted to go around, but the crosswind shift blew the airplane into hangars bordering the left side of the runway. The pilot further noted that he couldn't regain lateral control when the wind shifted to a right crosswind, and that if he had allowed the airplane to descend from the balloon height with only a partial application of power to soften the landing, he might not have been blown into the hangars. The pilot did not report any mechanical anomalies with the airplane. Runway 21 was 1,800 feet long and 35 feet wide. Winds, recorded at an airport 12 nautical miles to the southeast about the time of the accident, were from 280 degrees at 16, gusting to 26 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N721H
- Reported as
- Maule M-7-260C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30021C
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Jack R. Keller
- Registered owner
- Intown Residential Development LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- 49A · Ellijay, GA
- Destination
- GA27 · Cumming, GA
- Airport
- GA27 · Mathis Airport, runway 21, 1,800 × 35 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
- 61
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 532 total · 200 in this make and model · 17 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 16 knots, gusting 26
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.23 inHg
- Observed at
- LZU, 12 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.