What happened
The landing proceeded without incident until the pilot lowered the tail to the ground. At that moment, the aircraft suddenly veered to the right. Although the pilot attempted to correct the deviation by locking the left wheel brake, the aircraft continued its path to the right. Just before the aircraft came to a stop, the left wing and horizontal stabilizer made contact with the ground, resulting in substantial damage to both components.
The pilot noted that on several previous occasions, the tail wheel had appeared to stick initially, causing the aircraft to deviate from the intended track before eventually freeing up and tracking straight.
The investigation
Post-accident examination of the aircraft revealed that the tail wheel rotated freely until it reached its maximum left deflection limit, at which point the tail wheel locked in place. An inspection by a mechanic identified wear on both sides of the thrust plate spacers (part number 3407-00). It was suspected that the tail wheel springs (part number 3233-00) were binding against the thrust plates.