Lookout Mountain Flight Park Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Trenton, Georgia 30738
Tuesady, July 23, 2002 17:00 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he had to clear a ridgeline on his approach path to a 2,000 foot grass strip, necessitating a short field approach that was steep, using idle power. When he rapidly applied power in the flare, the engine hesitated, and the touchdown was firm. The left main wheel fractured at the weld joint between the axle and the hub spacer , causing the wheel to separate, the left landing strut to dig into the sod, and the aircraft to ground loop. The ground loop resulted in a collapsed nose gear strut and a propeller strike. Postcrash examination of the engine revealed metal shavings contamination in the gascolator. Postcrash run of the engine revealed an idle rpm of less than 500 rpm. The normal idle rpm range should be 600 to 800 rpm. The left main wheel/axle was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for analysis of the fracture. The examination showed the axle to spacer weld had only achieved about 30 percent fusion of the surface at the end of the axle. The remaining fracture surface was consistent with overstress separation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the pilot to clear the engine during a prolonged approach at idle power resulting in the engine hesitating during application of power to arrest the descent for landing touchdown resulting in a hard landing and separation of the left main landing gear wheel. Contributing to the accident was incomplete fusion of the weld joint between the left main landing gear axle and wheel spacer and the lower than normal idle setting of the engine.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/23/2002
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1700
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Trenton
Event State GEORGIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 30738
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 345417N
Event Location Longitude 0852735W
Event Location Airport Lookout Mountain Flight Park
Event Location Nearest Airport ID OGE3
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 635
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1653 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 45
Weather Observation Facility ID CHA
Elevation of weather observation facility 682
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 18
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2800
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report kcha
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) 13257
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr-SE
NTSB Notification Date Jul 23 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1750
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 23 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Atlanta FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N10550
NTSB Number MIA02LA138
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 MXT-7-180A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 21060C
Certified Max Gross Weight 2400
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 --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jun 20 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 19
Airframe Hours 1201
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Wellfound Air Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1395 S Marietta Pkwy
Aircraft Owner City Marietta
Aircraft Owner State GA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 30067
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Roderick Henderson
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RYY
Departure City Marietta
Departure State GA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1610
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 0GE3
Destination City Trenton
Destination State GA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 11 2003 3:44PM
User who most recently changed record KENJ
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 18
Runway Length 2000
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --