The pilot reported that, while attempting to depart from a lakeside beach in Northville, New York, the Maule MX-7-160 encountered an unexpected wind gust during the ground roll.
The airplane crossed over a water channel and the main landing gear sank into wet sand.
The airplane then nosed over into the lake, resulting in substantial damage to the wings and tail. The pilot sustained minor injuries in the crash.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s decision to depart from an area of wet sand, which resulted in a nose over during the attempted takeoff.
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This October 2022 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
I wouldn’t be so hard on this guy!
He is highly experienced and qualified, although it is hard to tell if he only had a few hundred hours in tailwheel aircraft, or more than the Maule time listed.
A Maule with 160 hp on an unobstructed gravel beach at an elevation of 1200 ft msl? That is a great plane and plenty of power and room for the operation. A great many of my 3700 hours are on turf or dirt airstrips or roads in a modified 1958 145 hp Cessna 172, including a number of beachside operations and lots of high elevation operations.
He claimed a diversion from planned takeoff track caused by a wind gust. I have suffered from such an unexpected event and many of the backcountry pilots I know have noted experiencing the same problem. All pilots work to avoid such accidents but sometimes Mother Nature can throw unanticipated curve balls.
The sure way to avoid aviation risk is to stay in bed.
Get more horsepower. 160 is a joke.
Well scratch another aircraft
I wonder if the insurance company will pay?
Since this was not an airport, I believe there is no coverage for the hull
Words elude me. Did the pilot ever get his car stuck in sand or snow and ice? Just brainless.
/J
“Words elude me.”
If only that was true.