Ealand Charles LIONHEART N15TE

Summary

On 5 September 2014 at about 20:00 local time, a Ealand Charles LIONHEART registered N15TE was involved in an accident near Santa Maria, California, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 September 2014 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Maria, California, United States

Nearest airport

Santa Maria Pub/Capt G Allan H (SMX)

Coordinates

34.9000, -120.4581

Aircraft

Ealand Charles LIONHEART

Registration

N15TE

Category

Airplane

Year built

2006

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Luis Obispo → Santa Maria

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR14CA365

3 people had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate landing flare and subsequent loss of directional control during the landing roll.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The owner/builder of the experimental amateur-built, tailwheel-equipped biplane was seated in the front left seat, with another pilot seated in the right seat, and a passenger in the rear seat. The intent of the flight was to prepare both pilots for a flight review, with both trading off flight duties as necessary. They planned to initially perform touch-and-go landings at their home base airport, with the pilot in the right seat acting as pilot-in-command. The first takeoff and landing was uneventful, but the airport was busy, so they diverted to the accident airport to practice further. The landing approach was normal, with the airplane touching down slightly to the right of centerline and then bouncing. The pilot made corrective control inputs, but the airplane did not fully respond, bouncing again on the runway. He applied forward elevator pressure and the airplane landed a third time, this time remaining on the ground. The airplane began to drift to the right, but would not respond to the pilot's rudder inputs. The owner/builder then applied left rudder, but the airplane continued to drift towards a runway sign. As they passed to the right of the sign the airplane pitched down violently, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage during the accident sequence to the left upper wing and the vertical stabilizer. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical malfunctions or failures which would have precluded normal operation. The owner stated that this was the first flight since he had completed the airplane's conditional inspection, and no flight control malfunctions were discovered at that time. He subsequently stated that he did not find any mechanical malfunctions or failures during a post-accident examination. He further surmised that the design of the braking system was such that simultaneous application of the left and right side brake pedals by both pilots may have resulted in excessive brake pressure, and this may have been the reason the airplane nosed over so unexpectedly.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.