Pitts S1 N23RS

Summary

On 1 July 2022 at about 20:00 local time, a Pitts S1 registered N23RS was involved in an accident near Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, United States. One person was on board and one 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

1 July 2022 at 20:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Door County Cherryland (SUE)

Coordinates

44.8375, -87.4246

Aircraft

Pitts S1

Registration

N23RS

Category

Airplane

Year built

1981

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Juneau → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN22LA302

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot’s failure to maintain airplane control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and nose over. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection and the pilot’s lack of flight control system knowledge.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during landing touchdown with all three wheels “down,” and the airplane “tracking fine,” he removed his feet from the lower rudder pedal bars to apply braking via the upper braking pedal bars. The pedals then fell rearward toward the pilot and his right foot got wedged between the lower rudder pedal bar and the upper braking pedal bar. The pilot reported this action caught him by surprise and he applied “heavy” right rudder, thinking it was braking application. The airplane departed the right side of the runway, nosed over, and came to rest inverted in the grass next to the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the top right wing and the empennage. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot reported that he had recently purchased the airplane and did not know that the rudder pedal return springs were not installed. The investigation revealed that the airplane was previously modified for aerobatic competition with the addition of a large rudder and that due to cockpit spacing limitations, the rudder pedal return springs could not be installed. The pilot concluded that the accident could have been prevented by performing a “very thorough” inspection and understanding all the modifications made to the airplane before flying it.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.