Was going over some NTSB stats regarding Maule wrecks

[Float Pilot]

I was going over some NTSB stats and you can see how Maule improved the safety of the aircraft as they evolved newer models.

MAULE Accidents By Type since Jan 1978 ( 40 years) World Wide:
M4= 9 fatal out of 81 total accidents and incidents..11.2% fatal.
M5= 31 fatal out of 218 total............ 14.25 % fatal
M6= 7 fatal out of 38 total ........ 18.5% fatal
M7= 5 fatal out of 77 total accidents and incidents..... 6.5% fatal
MX7= 2 fatal out of 59 total accidents and incidents ..... 3.5% fatal
MXT7 = 0 fatal out of 6 accidents and incidents...... 0% fatal

Cessna 180 during same period, world-wide:
1261 total with 107 fatal 8.5 % fatal
Cessna 185 during same period
1050 total with 114 fatal 10.9% fatal

[DeltaRomeo]

I think there are more M5's due to production during the heyday of aviation in the 70's that would allow for a higher incident rate. Owning an M5 has demanded I understand and appreciate its performance capabilities and limitations. Once I came to this understanding the relationship is great! And I believe the same can be said of almost any aircraft.

[Float Pilot]

Yes there are just more M5s. And they were pushed into some interesting places.
The percentage of fatal vs non-fatal is interesting. If I get some more free time one day it would interesting to read through all the M6 boo-boos to see why the percentage is so high.

[Float Pilot]

FATAL M6 Accidents: Jan 1978 to Jan 2018
NONE ARE AIRFRAME RELATED

1 Flew VFR into radio tower in IMC bad weather.
2 VMC into IFR,(snow) hit mountain in box canyon.
3 Banner Tow, snagged power-lines, then hit semi truck.
4 Pitch up and stall during aborted banner snag.
5 Hit ATV on beach during landing.
6 Stall spin into ground, mountain terrain.High Density Alt
7 Stall after take-off with excessive nose up pitch and high density alt.


MAULE M6 summaries:
Non Fatal: Most are landing and x-wind related. No aircraft failures.
Ran off runway during landing roll-out.
Lost control on T/O due to improper flap rigging
Under-shot runway, hit ground.
Hit trees on go-around.
Cross wind landing, nose over.
20-30 knot wind, lost control on landing.
Ground loop, nose over.
Hit fence post on slush covered runway.
Over-loaded landing gear failure.
Cross-wind, tail wind wing drag, nose over.
Hit powerlines after early rotation on T/O
Cross-wind, nose over on landing
Hit fence, destroyed plane on take-off.
Flipped plane after prop strike on sod strip
Tailwind landing, lost control hit fence.
Excessive crosswind, looped and nose over on landing.
High wind landing, cartwheeled plane.
Ground looped, drag wing on landing first flight.
Stall mush into ground in foggy conditions.
Ground loop and gear collapse with 40 hr pilot and 3 passengers.
Landing bounce, followed by steep climb and stall into ground.
Long landing, hit brakes went into ditch.
Water in fuel, failure to restart , botched forced landing.
Low Maule time pilot hit tree branch on float take-off.
Occupants hit heads during evasion maneuvering
Water take-off with 8 to 15 knot tail-wind, followed by stall.
Landing bounce, veered off runway into parked planes.
10 knot x-wind, ground loop gear collapse.
Ran off runway, nose over, during go around.
6 knot x-wind, veered off runway into soft ground, nose over.

[andy]

It's just a gut feeling from all the things I've heard but it seems like there are many fewer Maules than Cessna 180/185s in Alaska and very few of the Maules are used in commercial operations. I know that I saw no Maule floatplanes around Lake Spenard in Anchorage but lots of C180/185s. There's more pressure to operate in bad weather and bad terrain in commercial operations. An opposing factor might be that commercial operators are usually more experienced. Those factors might affect the fatal accident percentages.

[gbarrier]

Does that mean the value of my M-6 just went up?

[Float Pilot]

Andy: I only read through the M6 accidents... so far... Oddly enough most of the fatal accidents were from high time commercial grade pilots. I was very surprised. On the other hand a lot of the going off into the ditch crack-ups were low time folks, just like you would expect in any tail-wheel boo-boo.

A lot of the mom and pop Lodge support and hunting/fishing guiding outfits either use or have previously used Maules. Particularly back when they were less expensive. I know of one guy out west who wrecked a couple and never told a soul. Now that a good Maule M7 has become level in price with a nice 180 or an OK 185, the reason to buy a Maule is slipping away. I am only in the Maule market because of my little niche market. But prices may force me into a C180 and I will have to change the type of flying I do and the types of lakes I visit.

[chazdevil]

I find the professional perspective very interesting as it relates to aircraft choices. Since I have to pay to play, the Cessna option wasn’t available to my funding level.

[maules.com]

There have only been about 2650 total Maules built divided between over 40 models from M4-145 through M7-420 since 1963.
There have been about 6000 C180/185 I think I read somewhere.

[Float Pilot]

The drop in fatal percentages compared to over-all accident numbers by type kicks in with the M7 series. The few M7 fatals still had high time pilots for the most part.

MAULE M7 fatals from Jan 1978 to Jan 2018

08/25/17 ; M7-260C airplane, Kazakhstan registration UP-ML003, impacted terrain during a forced landing near Zhideli, Kazakhstan. The pilot was fatally injured no idea his hours.

12/07/08 A Brazilian M-7-235 floatplane with 5 on board impacted trees after take-off. Commercial operator but un-sure of hours.

07/07/05: Near Seward AK, M7-235 on floats stalled too high on glassy (glacier) water landing, smashing float gear and sinking the plane. One passenger drowned. The rest swam to floating iceberg in lake. 1,740 hour Comm pilot with 370hr is M7-235.

08/23/96: M7, Near Barrow AK, 11,800 hr comm pilot last seen very low flying over river in winds exceeding 60 mph.( Witness claimed 80) Wreckage later discovered on river bar, evidence of wing overload as they were found further away. This started the rumor of Maule wing failures in flight.

05/02/94 M7-235 South Dakota. 1,300 hr VFR pilot flew into increasing fog and mist. Impacted terrain.

[gregorydshanks]

Interesting that virtually all the accidents involving the MXT models involved cross-wind and gust issues.
Not sure of the implications.

[Mountain Doctor]

Nosewheel planes not immune to poor driving I'm afraid.

An observation. Nothing bad but an valid observation:

I think some of our accidents are cultural.

We own badazz machines and we chat with exceptional pilots who do exceptional things with them.

Some poeple use are influenced by this fact and it affects their flying behavior. Nothing bad about this. It is a good thing IMHO to explore the edges of the individuals performance envelope. This is how we grow as pilots, and in life in general.

The problem is the outside of the envelope is close to the edges, and some people get tagged.

The same thing occured earlier with the Cirrus experience. The planes had (have) all this capability, plus a 'Get out of death free' card in the BRS. This influenced the pilots and some biffed as a consequence. Again, JMHO but after 20 years of (safe) flight my opinion is not meaningless.

Also, I'd wager that many pilots, MXT as well as MX pilots, that land poorly and prang their aircraft blame it on crosswinds and gusts. Not many people are inclined to tell the FAA/NTSB that they biffed because they landed poorly.

[Float Pilot]

That is very true. I had one hysterical person who called the FAA and NTSB in the middle of the night only to ramble on about how his tail-wheel brakes had locked up. He had been looking at all of the old skid marks on the runway near the scene of his runway departure and had decided the one of them was caused by his Scott 3200. WOW...

[Mountain Doctor]

Thats funny right there.

I think any airman would know 'locking tailwheel' means something else entirely. This implies a lack of basic knowlege on the part of that airman, who coincidentally is either deluded or a very poor liar.

[pilot]

I worked in the shop at a small FBO a lot when I was a student pilot and I will say that most pilots were fairly knowledgeable about their aircraft. HOWEVER, there are a few pilots out there who have no clue. I'm not sure how this happens, but those types give the rest of us a bad rep. Tailwheel brake, geez.