Pilot Debrief

M-SQUARED AIRCRAFT BREESE 2 near Bayou La Batre, AL — 2012-01-19

Final reportERA12LA150
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Date
2012-01-19
Location
Bayou La Batre, AL, USA
Airport
5R7
Aircraft
M-SQUARED AIRCRAFT BREESE 2
Registration
N582MS
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Initial climb

Probable cause

The pilot's inability to maintain control of the airplane for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the rudder control system did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded control of the airplane.

NTSB narrative

The student pilot and a flight instructor completed three landings without incident. The flight instructor then exited the airplane, and the student pilot performed a full-stop landing without incident. During the subsequent climb after takeoff, the airplane yawed to the right, nearly 90 degrees from the departure runway heading. The student pilot noted that he was unable to depress the left rudder pedal more than 1 or 2 inches and that the right rudder pedal moved without resistance. He also noticed that the elevator control felt "loose and sloppy." The student pilot determined that he did not have enough controllability to safely land the airplane and subsequently chose to maneuver over a field and deploy the airplane's ballistic recovery parachute system. The forward portion of the fuselage was substantially damaged upon ground contact. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the tail skid/rudder control tube was fractured. The rudder pedals were displaced during the impact with the ground; however, all connections remained intact. No other discrepancies of the flight control system were observed. Metallurgical examination of the fractured tube revealed that it failed due to bending overstress. Although it is possible that contacting the tail skid on the runway at a high-pitch attitude could produce similar loading, it is more likely that the inertial loads on the tail structure during the impact were responsible for the fracture. The airplane had been operated for 575 total hours since new and 75 hours since its most recent condition inspection, which was performed about 4 months before the accident.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Student pilot could have aborted the takeoff when control issues were first noticed.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 9 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents9

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