Gogebic - Iron County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Ironwood, Michigan 49938
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 14:08 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane ground looped during landing, veered off the runway, and impacted a ditch about 100 yards south of the runway. The pilot stated that in an attempt to recover from the ground loop, he applied full power when he was approaching the edge of the runway but did not have enough airspeed to takeoff. He stated that there was a tail wheel shimmy when he touched down. Inspection of the airplane's tailwheel and flight control system revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadvertent ground loop on landing. A contributing factor was the ditch.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/23/2003
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1408
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Ironwood
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 49938
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 463139N
Event Location Longitude 0900753W
Event Location Airport Gogebic - Iron County Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID IWD
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 1230
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1415 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID IWD
Elevation of weather observation facility 1230
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
Density Altitude (feet) 1403
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14182
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 23 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1915
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Grand Rapids FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9014A
NTSB Number CHI03LA110
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-5-210C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 6107C
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 Mar 18 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 7.2
Airframe Hours 3596
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Ray A Richter
Aircraft Owner Street Address E4901 Slade Rd
Aircraft Owner City Ironwood
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 49938
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Ray A. Richter
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address E4901 Slade Road
Operator City Ironwood
Operator State MI
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 49938
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 LNL
Departure City Land O Lakes
Departure State WI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1320
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code IWD
Destination City Ironwood
Destination State MI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Aug 25 2003 11:06AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 6000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --