Morane-Saulnier MS-760/B N69X

Summary

On 9 August 2008 at about 14:00 local time, a Morane-Saulnier MS-760/B registered N69X was involved in an accident near St Paul, Minnesota, 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

9 August 2008 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

St Paul, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

St Paul Downtown (STP)

Coordinates

44.9347, -93.0603

Aircraft

Morane-Saulnier MS-760/B

Registration

N69X

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

St Paul → Rice Lake

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI08CA249

Nobody was injured.

Restriction of the elevator controls due to the presence of the seat belt buckled around the co-pilot control stick. An additional cause was the failure of the pilot to verify that the flight controls were unobstructed before flight. Contributing factors were the wet grass encountered during the runway excursion, and the sign and light impacted during the event.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he initiated the takeoff as normal. However, as the airplane accelerated through 80 knots the nose lifted "abruptly." He could not move the control stick far enough forward to lower the nose and level the airplane. As a result, he elected to reject the takeoff. The pilot used elevator trim, which lowered the nose enough for landing. The pilot reported the airplane touched down on the runway, but with the left wing low. The airplane drifted to the left and departed the runway pavement "at a shallow angle." The nose wheel steering had been disengaged during takeoff roll in accordance with standard flight manual procedures. As a result, the pilot was limited to differential braking to maintain control. The airplane encountered wet grass adjacent to the runway, and subsequently struck a runway sign and a light before coming to a stop. A post accident inspection revealed that the right front (co-pilot) seat belt had been buckled around the flight control stick, out of sight of the pilot, restricting full movement of the controls. The airplane sustained impact damage to the left wing, including the leading edge fuel tank and wing ribs. The pilot commented that he removed the co-pilot control stick to eliminate any possibility of a similar event in the future.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.