Pitts S-1T N731FL

Summary

On 17 February 2022 at about 20:48 local time, a Pitts S-1T registered N731FL was involved in an accident near Spring, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 February 2022 at 20:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Spring, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

David Wayne Hooks Meml (DWH)

Coordinates

30.0531, -95.5518

Aircraft

Pitts S-1T

Registration

N731FL

Category

Airplane

Year built

2007

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Houston → Houston

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN22LA123

1 person was seriously injured.

The failure of maintenance personnel to properly connect the throttle cable, which led to the pilot’s inability to control engine power during the initial climb. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s misjudgment of the headwind during the forced landing, which resulted in the airplane’s touchdown short of the runway and its impact with airport structures.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during the initial climbout, the engine did not respond to his throttle movements. The pilot turned the airplane back toward the airport and entered the downwind leg. While on the base leg, the pilot turned off the engine ignition switch and performed a forced landing. Due to a higher-than-anticipated headwind, the pilot misjudged the flight profile, and the airplane touched down short of the runway and impacted instrument landing system structures, which damaged both wings, the fuselage, and the empennage. Postaccident examination revealed the throttle cable was disconnected from the throttle lever arm at the fuel injector/control. A loose washer was found at the bottom of the engine cowling, and the castellated nut and cotter pin required for proper installation of the throttle linkage were not located. During the last annual inspection, the throttle cable had been disconnected to perform maintenance actions. The linkage hardware was likely not secured properly after that maintenance was performed, which resulted in the separation and subsequently the engine did not to respond to the pilot’s inputs during initial climb.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.