Van's RV8 N878DZ

Summary

On 4 March 2020 at about 19:02 local time, a Van's RV8 registered N878DZ, operated by Caye Palmas Transport Inc., was involved in an accident near Harrison, Ohio, United States. 2 people were 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

4 March 2020 at 19:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Harrison, Ohio, United States

Nearest airport

Cincinnati West Airport (I67)

Coordinates

39.2592, -84.7744

Aircraft

Van's RV8

Registration

N878DZ

Category

Airplane

Year built

2004

Engines

1

Operator

Caye Palmas Transport Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cynthiana → Harrison

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN20CA114

Nobody was injured.

The malfunction of the steerable tailwheel, which resulted in a loss of directional control during the landing roll and subsequent impact with the precision approach path indicator lights system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that he made a normal landing approach to the runway with a direct crosswind of 15 knots, gusting to 23 knots. The pilot was initially able to maintain directional control with normal flight control inputs after the airplane touched down on the main landing gear; however, when the tailwheel touched down, the tail began to weathervane, and the airplane veered right. The pilot was unable to regain directional control by applying full left rudder and left brake before the airplane departed the right side of the runway and struck a precision approach path indicator lights system. The left wing, left horizontal stabilizer, and left elevator sustained substantial damage. Postaccident examination and a functional test of the steerable tailwheel revealed that the spring-actuated key slide would stick in the retracted position within the tailwheel fork, which allowed the tailwheel to fully caster instead of being steerable within the normal limits intended for takeoff and landing. Additional examination revealed that the slot in the tailwheel fork that held the spring-actuated key slide was slightly deformed and that the key had several raised edges that caused the key to bind when fully retracted in the slot. It is likely that the tailwheel was able to fully caster during landing, which resulted in the pilot's inability to maintain directional control after the tailwheel touched down during the landing roll.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.