Velocity SE RG N755V

Summary

On 14 October 2021 at about 19:51 local time, a Velocity SE RG registered N755V was involved in an accident near Titusville, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 October 2021 at 19:51

Classification

Accident

Location

Titusville, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Space Coast Regional Airport (TIX)

Coordinates

28.5139, -80.8044

Aircraft

Velocity SE RG

Registration

N755V

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

Sebastian → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA22FA015

1 person died.

The separation of the airplane’s elevator control push-pull tube, which resulted in a loss of control during the approach.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was conducting a personal flight in an experimental amateur-built airplane that he had owned for about 5 years before the accident. During short final approach, the airplane pitched up, climbed about 300 ft, descended nose down, and impacted a grass area next to the runway. A postcrash fire consumed most of the wreckage. The elevator push-pull tube section that connected to the control stick was recovered with no threaded rod end engaged, and the rod end was not recovered. Metallurgical examination of the elevator push-pull tube section revealed no contact marks from the jam nut. Also, the first three threads in the threaded plug were missing. The threads had fractured in shear overstress, and likely resulted in the push pull tube separating during flight and the pilot’s subsequent loss of airplane control. Review of the airplane kit assembly manual revealed instructions to have at least 0.5 inches of thread engagement with the rod end in the 1.5-inch threaded plug (with a note indicating that “all the way in is best”). Due to the lack of maintenance documentation, the investigation could not determine when or why the most recent adjustment to the rod end was made. Toxicology testing identified doxylamine in the pilot’s specimens. The main effect from doxylamine that can degrade performance is sleepiness. Because sleepiness would not have likely led to the airplane’s sudden pitch up during landing, the pilot’s use of doxylamine likely did not contribute to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.