Boeing B75N1 N27WE

Summary

On 8 June 2010 at about 14:19 local time, a Boeing B75N1 registered N27WE, operated by Truschel Michael A, was involved in an accident near Arlington, Virginia, United States. 2 people were 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

8 June 2010 at 14:19

Classification

Accident

Location

Arlington, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Reagan National (DCA)

Coordinates

38.8522, -77.0378

Aircraft

Boeing B75N1

Registration

N27WE

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Truschel Michael A

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Manassas → Arlington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DCA10FA066

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inadvertent use of the wheel brakes at high speed during the touchdown phase of the landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s lack of familiarity with the feel and effectiveness of the airplane’s wheel brakes.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, as he entered the flare to land at an airspeed of about 70 miles per hour, he planned to keep the airplane’s tail in the air and roll farther down the runway to allow more room for the following airplanes in his formation. He stated that, when the wheels touched the runway, he inadvertently applied the wheel brakes via the rudder pedals, which was evident by the skid marks found on the runway. (Pressing forward on the tops of the rudder pedals activates the main wheel brakes.) The pilot’s use of the brakes while touching down at high speed in this type of airplane, which has a high center of gravity and a tail wheel, caused it to flip over onto the top wing and the vertical stabilizer and rudder. Although the pilot had 875 total flight hours, including 190 hours in Stearman airplanes, he stated that he had seldom used the brakes in over 600 landings in the accident airplane. Therefore, the pilot was not familiar with the feel and effectiveness of the airplane’s wheel brakes.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.