Miller Air Sports GEM 260 accident near Martindale, Texas, September 1, 1984
On September 1, 1984 at about 4:15 pm local time, a Miller Air Sports GEM 260, an amateur-built aircraft,, registered N177M, was destroyed in an accident near Martindale, Texas. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 1, 1984 · about 4:15 pm local time
- Place
- Martindale, Texas · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Miller Air Sports GEM 260, amateur-built
- Registration
- N177M · registry record · serial M-103
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
NOTES LEFT BY PLT INDICATE HE HAD BEEN TESTING THE FLIGHT ENVELOPE OF THIS EXPERIMENTAL RACING ACFT, INCLUDING OPERATION OF THE ENGINE BEYOND PROP LIMIT OF 4000 RPM. WITNESSES HEARD ENGINE SOUND SUDDENLY SPEED UP TO HIGH RPM THEN CEASE ALTOGETHER. SOME WITNESSES REPORTED HEARING AN EXPLOSIVE SOUND. ACFT WRECKAGE WAS SCATTERED OVER 1-1/2 MILES. HORIZONTAL AIRFRAME SURFACES WERE DISINTEGRATED; LARGEST PIECE WEIGHED LESS THAN 10 LBS. 3 PROP BLADES (WOOD CORE) HAD SEPARATED 8' OUTBOARD OF HUB; FOURTH BLADE SEPARATED INSIDE SPINNER. ONLY ONE BLADE WAS RECOVERED. EXAMINATION OF AIRFRAME FRACTURES REVEALED SEPARATIONS OCCURRED ALONG MULTIPLE AXES; SIGNATURES IN CONVENTIONAL MATERIALS SHOWED CHARACTERISTICS OF GROSS OVERLOAD. COMPOSITE MATERIAL SEPARATIONS PARALLELED WARP OF 'CLOTH' EXCEPT IN AREAS OF HIGH PEEL STRESS. ALL COMPOSITE STRUCTURES EXHIBITED UNIFORM SATURATION OF RESIN; NO AIR BUBBLES FOUND IN LAYUP.
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: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 27,487 hours in all; 1 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: ctr
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 51 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded, July 9, 1984; 19 hours since
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental O-200-B (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 160° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 1,600 ft
- Temperature: 84°F (29°C), dew point 72°F (22°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 3:51 pm from AUS, 30 miles away
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.
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 FTW84FA374.