Doan Vernon D W10-WITTMAN TAILWIND N68TW

Summary

On 29 September 2021 at about 16:00 local time, a Doan Vernon D W10-WITTMAN TAILWIND registered N68TW, operated by Wagner Merle F, was involved in an accident near Brooksville, Florida, 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

29 September 2021 at 16:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Brooksville, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Brooksville-Tampa Bay Rgnl (BKV)

Coordinates

28.4736, -82.4554

Aircraft

Doan Vernon D W10-WITTMAN TAILWIND

Registration

N68TW

Category

Airplane

Year built

2005

Engines

1

Operator

Wagner Merle F

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA21LA385

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the nose landing gear retention bolt during taxi which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent impact with the taxiway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that after landing, he applied the brakes and felt a “violent shimmy.” He released the brakes and the nose landing gear leg rotated left and aft which resulted in the right wing impacting the runway surface. A post-accident examination revealed that the nose landing gear retention bolt had sheared and the airplane had sustained substantial damage to the right wing. The pilot stated that he was the second owner and noticed that the original builder had not followed the design plans for the airplane, so the pilot modified the nose wheel attach plate to strengthen it but did not modify the gear assembly attach point which resulted in the failure.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.