Stearman C3-B N6101H

Summary

On 12 July 2013 at about 19:20 local time, a Stearman C3-B registered N6101H was involved in an accident near Everett, Washington, 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

12 July 2013 at 19:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Everett, Washington, United States

Nearest airport

Snohomish County - Paine Field (PAE)

Coordinates

47.9069, -122.2814

Aircraft

Stearman C3-B

Registration

N6101H

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ephrata → Arlington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13CA327

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing, which resulted in a ground loop.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that while en route, the airplane's engine began to make an abnormal noise and was running rough. He opted to make a precautionary landing at a nearby airport. The touchdown for the wheel-landing was normal and as the tailwheel settled onto the runway surface, the pilot held aft pressure on the control stick. During the landing roll, the airplane veered to the left and, despite the pilot's efforts to regain directional control with right rudder application, the airplane ground looped. The right main landing gear collapsed and the airplane incurred substantial damage to the interconnect strut. The pilot initially reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, aside from the rough running engine. Later he submitted a statement that indicated he thought there was a possible failure of the landing gear. A postaccident examination of the landing gear revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.