Big Creek Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Big Creek, Idaho 83635
Friday, July 6, 2001 14:00 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that during the landing roll with strong gusting winds, the airplane weathervaned into the wind. The airplane then veered off the side of the airstrip and collided with an irrigation pipe. The pilot reported no mechanical failures or malfunctions with the aircraft at the time of the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to adequately compensate for the wind conditions during the landing roll. High and gusting winds were factors.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/6/2001
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Big Creek
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83635
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 450800N
Event Location Longitude 1151903W
Event Location Airport Big Creek
Event Location Nearest Airport ID U60
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5743
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1350 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 228
Weather Observation Facility ID MYL
Elevation of weather observation facility 5020
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 36
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.07
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 10567
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 6 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1515
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Sep 26 2001 10:21AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boise, Idaho

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N349X
NTSB Number SEA01LA126
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Maule
Aircraft Model M-5-210C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 6161C
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 5 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Michael Knefley
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2025 Fox Hill Rd
Aircraft Owner City Ulysses
Aircraft Owner State PA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 16948
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Larry D. Mehaffey
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1913 E Colorado Pl.
Operator City Nampa
Operator State ID
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 83686
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code S67
Departure City Nampa
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1330
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Big Creek
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 4 2001 2:49PM
User who most recently changed record RANS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19
Runway Length 3550
Runway Width 110
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --