N600XX

On July 20, 1997, at 1730 hours Pacific daylight time, a Maule MX-7-180A, N600XX, ground looped on landing and collapsed the main landing gear at the Long Beach, California, airport. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The pilot/owner, and one passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions existed for the local personal flight, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Long Beach at 1630.

In an interview with an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector from the Long Beach Flight Standards District Office, the pilot stated that he received Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) information prior to making his initial radio transmission to Long Beach Tower for a full stop landing. The pilot reported that at 1700, Long Beach ATIS was reporting that the winds were from 170 at 11 knots, and the active runways as 25R and 25L.

The pilot reported that he asked the local controller if the runway direction was going to change to 16R and 16L. He stated that the Tower informed him that no runway change was going to take place. On final approach he checked the windsock on the runway and it was sticking straight out, indicating 15 knots. He made a standard crosswind landing and lost control during the rollout phase. The aircraft ground looped, and the main landing gear collapsed.

The FAA inspector found no preexisting anomalies with the aircraft.