History of Flight
On October 11, 2008, at 1702 mountain daylight time, a Maule MXT-7-180A airplane, registration N4257C, entered a thunderstorm and impacted terrain shortly after takeoff from Dona Ana County Airport (5T6) in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The private pilot and a private pilot rated passenger sustained fatal injuries, and the airplane was destroyed. The personal flight was conducted under Part 91 without a flight plan. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time. The intended destination was Springerville Municipal Airport (D68) in Springerville, Arizona.
The two pilots had departed Glendale Municipal Airport (GEU) in Glendale, Arizona, earlier that day and arrived at 5T6 for the "Land of Enchantment RV Fly-in." Witnesses observed the airplane taxi and perform an intersection takeoff on Runway 28, heading directly toward an isolated thunderstorm located immediately off the departure end of the runway. The airplane appeared to climb to about 150 to 200 feet above ground level before disappearing from view in the storm. One witness reported that the airplane's wings were rocking back and forth, suggesting difficulty in control just before it went out of sight. Five to ten minutes later, after the storm had passed, smoke was seen rising approximately one mile west of the airport.
Personnel Information
The pilot, aged 46, held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and multiengine land, but was not instrument rated. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on April 19, 2006, with no limitations. Examination of his logbook indicated an estimated total flight time of 1,755 hours, of which 1,293 hours were in the accident airplane. He logged 57.8 hours in the 90 days prior and 11.1 hours in the 30 days prior. His last flight review was completed on May 4, 2008.
The passenger, aged 43, held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land, but was not instrument rated. His last FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on November 21, 2001, with no limitations. No pilot logbooks were found for the passenger; he reported 140 total hours on his last medical application.
Aircraft Information
The 1999-model Maule MXT-7-180A, serial number 21070C, was a high-wing, fabric-covered airplane with fixed tricycle landing gear, configured for four occupants. It was powered by a Lycoming O-360-C4F engine (serial number L-36632-36A) rated at 180 horsepower at 2,700 rpm, driving a two-bladed metal Sensenich propeller. The last annual inspection for both airframe and engine was completed on December 15, 2007, at 850.9 total hours. The airplane was fueled with 29.4 gallons of aviation fuel at 5T6 on the day of the accident.
Meteorological Information
A special weather observation taken at 5T6 at 1709 reported winds from 300 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 31 knots, 10 miles visibility, broken clouds at 6,000 feet, overcast at 25,000 feet, and a thunderstorm within 10 miles northwest moving northeast at 35 miles per hour. Weather data indicate that a thunderstorm moved to within one mile west of the airport at 1702. At that time, NEXRAD radial wind velocity images depicted a divergent wind pattern over the accident site with a shear of greater than 60 knots between inbound and outbound wind components.
Base reflectivity images from KEPZ WSR-88D for 0.5 degree elevation scans at 1657, 1702, and 1706 showed an area of extreme intensity echoes with reflectivity exceeding 55 dBZ moving northeast over the accident site at the approximate time of the accident. Composite reflectivity images for those times indicated maximum echo intensity between 61 and 63 dBZ within the weather system. The system was organized and intense, with echo intensity between 50 and 55 dBZ over the accident site between 1647 and 1702.
Convective SIGMET 42C was active and covered the accident site at the time, warning of an area of thunderstorms moving from 220 degrees at 10 knots with maximum tops to 43,000 feet, implying severe turbulence, low-level wind shear, and local IMC conditions. No evidence was found that the pilot or passenger had obtained a weather briefing before departure.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The fuselage frame was mostly intact aft of the front cockpit, but the fuselage and interior materials were largely burned, with fabric remnants only on the empennage. Both wings remained attached to the fuselage and showed fire damage near the wing roots. Control cable continuity from the cockpit was verified to all control surfaces. One propeller blade was partially embedded in the ground, and both blades displayed chord-wise scratching and leading edge impact marks.
Medical and Pathological Information
Autopsies performed by the Office of the Medical Investigator at the University of New Mexico attributed the cause of death for both the pilot and passenger to multiple blunt force injuries. Toxicological testing by the FAA Toxicology Accident Research Laboratory detected no volatiles or drugs in the pilot. For the passenger, testing detected 67.3 ug/ml acetaminophen in urine; no carbon monoxide or cyanide tests were conducted.
Probable Cause
No probable cause is stated in the source.