Curtiss-Wright 12Q N496W

Summary

On 27 July 2008 at about 14:30 local time, a Curtiss-Wright 12Q registered N496W was involved in an accident near Erie, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 July 2008 at 14:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Erie, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

40.0061, -105.0419

Aircraft

Curtiss-Wright 12Q

Registration

N496W

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Erie → Erie

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DFW08CA200

Nobody was injured.

Failure of the tail wheel control cable during landing roll out, which resulted in a loss of control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was returning from a local flight in his vintage single-engine, bi-wing airplane, which was equipped with a tail wheel. He said the winds were light and variable when he made a normal landing on the asphalt runway. However, during the landing roll-out, the airplane suddenly entered a left turn and the pilot was unable to correct with right rudder and brake. The airplane entered the grass area adjacent to the runway, dragging its right wing tip, before it came to rest up on its nose. Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed that the tail wheel control cable had disconnected from the spring on the right side, which caused the left side spring to pull the tail wheel to the left. In addition, two ribs in the lower right wing were broken.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.