M-Squared BREESE 2 N582MS

Summary

On 19 January 2012 at about 22:30 local time, a M-Squared BREESE 2 registered N582MS, operated by M Squared Aircraft, was involved in an accident near Bayou La Batre, Alabama, 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 January 2012 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Bayou La Batre, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

Roy E. Ray (5R7)

Coordinates

30.4550, -88.2111

Aircraft

M-Squared BREESE 2

Registration

N582MS

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

M Squared Aircraft

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bayou La Batre → Bayou La Batre

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12LA150

Nobody was injured.

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.

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

Read the full 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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.