Maule M-7-235C accident near Auburn, Washington, July 26, 2006
On July 26, 2006, a Maule M-7-235C, registered N15SN, was substantially damaged in an accident near Auburn, Washington (Auburn Municipal Airport). It was a personal 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).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The loss of directional control [not possible] during landing roll as a result of the disconnected tail wheel steering assembly [for undetermined reasons], which led to an inadvertent ground loop during the landing roll.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 26, 2006
- Place
- Auburn, Washington · Auburn Municipal Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Maule M-7-235C · all M-7-235Cs on the register
- Registration
- N15SN · registry record · serial 25074C
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot said that he noticed that the right clevis of the right tail wheel spring to the wheel's steering arm was starting to open several hours before a 10 hour maintenance inspection. The mechanic crimped the clevis during this inspection. After the inspection was completed, the pilot returned to his home airport and landed on runway 16 with a direct right crosswind of 5-10 knots. The pilot said that his landing was a normal right crosswind landing and the airplane rolled out normally for 200-300 yards. He said that the airplane started to turn right, and he applied full left rudder with no effect [a photograph of the accident scene showed a serpentine black skip mark approximately 20 feet to the left of the 75 foot wide runway center line]. The pilot said that the nose of the aircraft had started to swing sharply to the right before he could "think" of using differential braking. The airplane exited the right side of the runway and came to rest on its left wing tip, left main landing gear, and engine. The left wing and aileron were bent and wrinkled. Postaccident examination of the tail wheel assembly revealed that the clevis which connected the right tail wheel spring to the wheel's steering arm was disconnected. It was not determined why the tail wheel shimmied during the landing roll. At the time of the accident, the pilot had approximately 99 hours of flight experience, with 23 hours 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: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 99 hours in all; 23 in this make and model; 17 in the last 90 days; 14 in the last 30 days; 55 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 805 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, June 1, 2006
- Maximum gross weight: 2,500 lb
- Seats: 5
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540-W1A5 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: WN13 Port Orchard WA
- Destination: S50 Auburn WA
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 16, 3,400 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 290° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 12,000 ft
- Temperature: 75°F (24°C), dew point 57°F (14°C)
- Altimeter: 29.95 inHg
- Observation at 11:56 pm from SEA, 8 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 SEA06CA149.