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Atlas / NTSB / LAX78DUK01

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event LAX78DUK01

1978-09-09 COTTONWOOD, Arizona, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N7SW

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

BEECH C35

Engine

CONT MOTOR E185 SERIES (205 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19571209

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A95181

Registrant of record

WHEELER RALPH F

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

BEECH C35 · N7SW

Damage

Substantial

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

EE

Operator type

D

Airport

COTTONWOOD

Kind of flying

B0

Weather at impact

Sky

CLEAR

Wind

200° / 8 kt

Temp

83° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

0000000D3382

Total time

4,144 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

DA (DA)

Total hours

24,201

Age

42

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

NG FULL EXTEN.PROTECTIVE BOOT NOT INSTALLED.

Investigator remarks

CAMERA STRAP FOULED IN EMERG GEAR CRANK PREVENTI

Cause factors

  • 64/A/39 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND FAILED TO ASSURE THE GEAR WAS DOWN AND LOCKED Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 84/A/G A
    MISCELLANEOUS FOREIGN MATERIAL AFFECTING NORMAL OPERATIONS Cause — pilot/personnel action

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 2646. Source file NTSB_1978_3_2646.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.