Zenith CH 750 N2992W

Summary

On 22 September 2022 at about 07:00 local time, a Zenith CH 750 registered N2992W was involved in an accident near Cincinnati, Ohio, 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

22 September 2022 at 07:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Cincinnati (LUK)

Coordinates

39.1033, -84.4186

Aircraft

Zenith CH 750

Registration

N2992W

Category

Airplane

Year built

2015

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cincinnati → Excelsior Springs

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA22LA428

Nobody was injured.

The airplane builder’s installation of incorrect hardware in the control yoke assembly, which resulted in a loss of control during takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that, during the takeoff roll in the experimental amateur-built airplane, he noticed that “something felt wrong” with his flight controls. The airplane briefly climbed before landing hard on the nosewheel, resulting in substantial damage to the engine firewall. During a postaccident examination of the airplane, a bolt that attached the control yoke to the flight controls was missing. The missing bolt and a nut were subsequently located within the fuselage of the airplane. The “hardware store” -type nut was not the castle type nut with cotter pin -type that was called for in the airplane’s engineering drawings. Review of the airplane’s maintenance records revealed that it had undergone 3 annual condition inspections since being constructed and that no documented maintenance to, or replacement of the flight control hardware had occurred. Based on this information, it is likely the builder of the airplane used improper hardware to assemble the flight controls, which resulted in the separation of the control yoke from the flight controls and the subsequent loss of control during takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.