Aerotek PITTS S 1T N53CG

Summary

On 19 October 2013 at about 15:57 local time, a Aerotek PITTS S 1T registered N53CG was involved in an accident near Punta Gorda, Florida, 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

19 October 2013 at 15:57

Classification

Accident

Location

Punta Gorda, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Punta Gorda (PGD)

Coordinates

26.9189, -81.9908

Aircraft

Aerotek PITTS S 1T

Registration

N53CG

Category

Airplane

Year built

1982

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Punta Gorda → Punta Gorda

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA14LA005

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s loss of directional control during landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to operate the airplane with known ergonomic restrictions due to his size.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot/owner reported that he conducted a "normal" three-point landing on the runway centerline with a normal roll in the tailwheel-equipped airplane. While decelerating through 50 mph, the airplane "began to jerk to the right," and the pilot corrected with a left rudder input. The airplane responded "somewhat," but it continued to veer right. The pilot applied full power and full-aft control stick input to abort the landing, but the airplane departed the runway to the right and nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the engine compartment, cockpit, and vertical fin structures. The pilot was concerned that the airplane had sustained a structural failure in the area that surrounded the attachment point for the right main landing gear because it had been repaired and modified after the airplane experienced a similar loss of directional control event about 1 year previously. Therefore, he requested a detailed examination of the modifications, welding, and landing gear installation conducted during the previous repair. The examination of the welds revealed that they were intact, and no anomalies were noted. All of the damage to the landing gear system was due to overstress. In a written statement following the previous event, the pilot stated that the loss of directional control resulted from the length of his legs, the geometry of his size-13 shoe and the rudder pedals, and the confined space that enclosed them. He attempted to alleviate the issue by changing his footwear, but his alternate choice of footwear only aggravated the rudder control problem. He stated that the application of left rudder resulted in the inadvertent application of right brake and the subsequent loss of directional control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.