Walker Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Grand Junction, Colorado 81506
Sunday, January 13, 2002 15:15 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that during a touch and go landing, he heard a "bang." The left rudder pedal went to the floor, and the airplane ground looped to the right. The left wing was bent up for the outboard 12 feet of the wing. Postaccident examination of the airplane's left tail wheel steering cable revealed that a swaged attachment had separated.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the failure of the tail wheel left steering cable. A contributing factor was the pilot's loss of aircraft control (not possible) and the subsequent inadvertent ground loop.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/13/2002
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1515
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Grand Junction
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81506
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 390720N
Event Location Longitude 1083140W
Event Location Airport Walker Field
Event Location Nearest Airport ID GJT
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 4858
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1456 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID GJT
Elevation of weather observation facility 4858
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 6
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 16
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.06
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12594
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Jan 13 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1655
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jan 16 2003 4:27PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City, UT

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N382X
NTSB Number DEN02LA020
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Maule
Aircraft Model M-5-235C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 7021C
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 15 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 35
Airframe Hours 1664
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Dwain P. Watson
Aircraft Owner Street Address 669 Jubilee Ct.
Aircraft Owner City Grand Junction
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 81506
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code GJT
Departure City Grand Junction
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1430
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 7 2002 12:42PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29
Runway Length 10501
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight --
Air Medical Flight --
Medical Flight --