ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 17373
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Monday 7 April 2008 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Maule M-7-235C Orion |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N235WT |
| MSN: | 25097c |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Zahn Bay on the San Juan River, near Nokai Dome, Utah -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Durango, Colorado |
| Nokai Dome, Utah | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Crashed on 7 April 2008 (some sources state April 8) near Nokai Dome, Utah. According to a contemporary eyewitness report (see link #2):
"From what I have heard he left yesterday from Durango and was going to go to Animas to get gas then to Nokai Dome. When he did not return in the evening he was reported missing. He was the only person in the missing plane, a 2004 M7 Maule, N235WT.
According to the pilot himself: "Well to start things off I did tell my wife that i was going to Nokai Dome and i was going straight there (direct too) she even wrote it down, part of the problem was getting coffee and using the community restroom at the hanger and get the plane out and flying 5 minutes to Animas airpark from La Plata/Durango and getting gas all took long then expected, so i called her after run up to let her now i was going to come home a little later, and she wondered if i was still going, thats were i was a little wishy-washy but still said yea i think so. i never really changed my mind though.
So, i first flew to Nokai dome, easy landing and got out for 45 mins. or so to kick rocks off the run way and enjoy the view. Next i flew to another Camp, about 1-2 mins flight time, this one was X-wind but another nice landing, parked walked around for 20 minutes, enjoying a different view and throw some rock in the river
So, i got back in start up, run up, all is well, i took off down hill and all is well turned west up the river to check out the water while gaining altitude to get out of the canyon and go home. well, like a dump ass, i some how flipped the key off the BOTH position to one off the single mags about 2 mins after take off :oops: I quickly checked the gauges and all was well but the engine was bogging down and not enjoying more throttle. Needless to say i didn't check the position of the key and thought the engines was going to die.
Instead of landing with no power at all i had to commit to landing some where flat and safe instead of turning and having her quit without a spot in front of me. So i made an easy soft landing on a beach and came to a stop and promptly shut the plane down just to realize that the key was half way there after pulling mixture.
Never was there a hard landing, in fact it was nice and soft, well even too soft. Thank lots off practice or God but no flipping or wings touching anything.
I then tried to dig little paths for the main tires so i could move forward but the plane kept settling deeper. I was running about 18 psi in the 8.5x6s which was way to much for sandy landing but i didn't except to land there.
"He's a guy who likes to go places that nobody else can get to," Hamilton said. "He flies into these little tiny backwoods places that aren't even landing strips, just flat spots in the ground. What happened is he landed hard and flipped the plane over. He couldn't fly out, obviously." i don't know where Sue Lindsay from the Rocky Mountain News is getting her info, neither my wife or i spoke with any media. And this statement is so false every time i read it, it gets me more annoyed. I have never landed off airport before!! I have thought about it and read lots about it and asked questions on this site about it but never committed to land on flat spots on the ground."
Sources:
1. https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15818017/detail.html
2. https://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/motorcitymaule-is-missing-2199
3. http://rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/07/plane-missing-four-corners/
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Apr-2008 21:28 | Bleiente | Added |
| 23-Feb-2015 17:52 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation