Maule M-5-235C N9218E

Summary

On 13 September 1998 at about 22:00 local time, a Maule M-5-235C registered N9218E was involved in an accident near Mimbres, New Mexico, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 September 1998 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Mimbres, New Mexico, United States

Coordinates

33.0406, -107.9195

Aircraft

Maule M-5-235C

Registration

N9218E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → El Paso

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW98LA395

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control while maneuvering. Factors were a low altitude turn into a crosswind and a high density altitude.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot's accident report, he departed a grass airstrip (3,000 feet x 300 feet, dirt), en route to El Paso, Texas. He climbed to 200 feet, maneuvered to the left side of a valley, then made a climbing right turn to head south and through the valley. He encountered 'a hard crosswind from the left,' and he 'turned into the downwind side of this crosswind.' The airplane lost altitude and 'barely' struck the ground. The landing gear collapsed, and the airplane slid 80 feet before colliding with a log-loading machine. The computed density altitude at Deming, New Mexico (elevation 4,312 feet msl), located 44 miles southeast of the accident site, was 7,349 feet msl. The pilot said the elevation of the accident site was 6,200 feet msl. The approximate density altitude at the accident site was computed to be 9,628 feet msl.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.