Mantell Allan T KITFOX 4 1200 N51TM

Summary

On 20 August 2016 at about 14:00 local time, a Mantell Allan T KITFOX 4 1200 registered N51TM was involved in an accident near Canandaigua, New York, 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

20 August 2016 at 14:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Canandaigua, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Canandaigua (D38)

Coordinates

42.9089, -77.3253

Aircraft

Mantell Allan T KITFOX 4 1200

Registration

N51TM

Category

Airplane

Year built

2000

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Weedsport → Canandaigua

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16LA296

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the right rudder pedal torque tube due to fatigue, which resulted in a loss of directional control during landing. Also causal to the accident was the airplane owner/builder's failure to install a rudder torque tube reinforcement or replacement in accordance with the kit manufacturer's recommendation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot, who was also the owner/builder of the experimental, amateur-built, tailwheel-equipped airplane, was conducting a cross-country personal flight. He reported that, during landing, a rudder pedal torque tube separated, which resulted in a loss of directional control and the airplane departing the right side of the runway. Metallurgical examination revealed that the vertical torque tube for the right rudder pedal had fractured at a fillet welded intersection where it attached to a horizontal torque tube. The fracture surface exhibited a small thumbnail-like fatigue region followed by an overstress region. The pilot had assembled the airplane about 16 years before the accident, and it had accrued about 551 hours of operation. The actual kit model was manufactured 22 years before the accident, and 1 year later, the kit manufacturer published a service letter (SL) applicable to the accident airplane model, which advised owners that the company had recently noticed signs of fatigue in rudder pedal torque tubes. The SL instructed owners to inspect the areas for fatigue and offered a reinforcement kit. Further, 6 years later, the kit manufacturer redesigned the rudder pedal torque tubes for subsequent models to include a reinforcement similar to the reinforcement that had previously been offered in the reinforcement kit. The accident airplane was not equipped with the reinforcement kit recommended in the SL nor was it equipped with the newer rudder torque tube design.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.