Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grant County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Moses Lake, Washington 98837
Friday, June 20, 2003 7:40 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
When the pilot first contacted the tower, they cleared him to land on runway 14 Left. Because the Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) indicated the winds were coming from the southwest, he asked the tower what the current winds were. The tower controller told him the winds were from 240 degrees at approximately six knots, and then asked if he would like to land on runway 22. After the pilot answered affirmatively, he was cleared to land on runway 22. While he was on final, the pilot noticed there was a strong right quartering headwind. In an attempt to compensate for the wind conditions, the pilot elected to keep the right wing low during the landing flare, necessitating an initial touchdown on the right main gear. Although the touchdown in this manner was successful, during the landing roll, when the pilot lowered the left main gear to the runway, the right wing lifted into the air, and the left wing contacted the runway surface. The pilot said he believed the aircraft encountered a wind gust just as he lowered the left wheel to the runway surface, and he further stated that he did not feel there were any problems with the aircraft's flight controls or tailwheel steering systems.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate compensation for wind conditions during the landing roll. Factors include gusty crosswinds.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/20/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 740 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Moses Lake |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98837 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 471228N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1191913W |
| Event Location Airport | Grant County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KMWH |
| 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 | 1185 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 10 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14499 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 20 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 815 |
| 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 | Spokane FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-FCDM |
| NTSB Number | SEA03LA109 |
| 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-7-235C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25037C |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Apr 30 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 28 |
| Airframe Hours | 453 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mike Covert |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Oliver, B.C. |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | V0H1T0 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CAU3 |
| Departure City | Oliver, B.C. |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | CA |
| Departure Time | 640 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KMWH |
| Destination City | Moses Lake |
| Destination State | WA |
| 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 29 2003 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 220 |
| Runway Length | 10000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |