Maule MT-7-235 accident near Las Cruces, New Mexico, August 4, 2001
On August 4, 2001 at about 7:00 pm local time, a Maule MT-7-235, registered N116CP, was substantially damaged in an accident near Las Cruces, New Mexico (Las Cruces International airport). It was a public-use flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to properly recover from a bounced landing. Contributing factors include his misjudgment of the flare and his lack of total experience in make and model.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 4, 2001 · about 7:00 pm local time
- Place
- Las Cruces, New Mexico · Las Cruces International · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Maule MT-7-235 · all MT-7-235s on the register
- Registration
- N116CP · registry record · serial 18063C
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Public-use flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane landed hard and porpoised several times. The final impact with the runway collapsed the nose landing gear. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall and nose landing gear. The pilot reported 2,200 hours of total flight time in all aircraft and 11 hours of flight time in make and model.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: glider; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,200 hours in all; 11 in this make and model
- Last flight review: January 7, 2001
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 46 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, March 30, 2001; 46 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,500 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540-WIA5 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: LRU Las Cruces NM at 12:30 pm
- Destination: LRU Las Cruces NM
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 22, 7,503 ft by 100 ft
Weather at the time
- Wind: from 300° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat
- Temperature: 88°F (31°C), dew point 48°F (9°C)
- Altimeter: 30.14 inHg
- Observation at 7:07 pm from KLRU
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N116CP the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number DEN01LA140.