Aerotek PITTS S-1T N49309

Summary

On 2 December 2012 at about 21:30 local time, a Aerotek PITTS S-1T registered N49309 was involved in an accident near Billings, Montana, 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

2 December 2012 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Billings, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Billings (BIL)

Coordinates

45.8075, -108.5428

Aircraft

Aerotek PITTS S-1T

Registration

N49309

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Billings → Billings

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13LA063

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inability to maintain directional control during the landing roll because of the failure of the tailwheel support bracket.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After completing a personal flight, the pilot was returning to his home airport. He stated that on the first landing attempt, he was not able to maintain directional control of the airplane during the landing roll, and he aborted the landing. On the second landing attempt, he again was not able to maintain directional control and subsequently realized that there was not enough remaining runway for him to successfully abort the landing. The airplane departed the runway surface and nosed over, coming to rest inverted. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the weld that attached the tailwheel tube to the fuselage had separated. This would have allowed for the tailwheel assembly to freely move left and right without corresponding rudder input, and thus the pilot would not be able to maintain directional control during the landing roll.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.