31 Jul 2011: MCDONALD LYNN B AVID FLYER MARK IV

31 Jul 2011: MCDONALD LYNN B AVID FLYER MARK IV — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Yamhill, OR, United States

Probable cause

The pilot’s loss of directional control during landing rollout due to an unlocked tail wheel that was caused by a degradation of the tailwheel assembly mounting angle.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

The pilot reported that his approach to, and landing on, the private airstrip in his homebuilt, experimental, conventional gear airplane were normal. During rollout in the calm wind condition, the airplane began an uncommanded right turn. The pilot stated that he attempted to correct his loss of directional control by application of rudder and engine power. However, the tail wheel had unlocked and was evidently in a castoring mode. Despite his efforts to straighten the airplane’s path, the airplane veered off the runway. It rolled over brush and went into a ditch. During the impact sequence one propeller blade broke, and the left wingtip and a wing rib were broken. The pilot reported that he built and maintained the experimental airplane. He opined that the accident could have been prevented had the angle of the tail wheel assembly been correct. After years of use, the tail wheel spring-to-empennage attachment assembly flattened. The incorrect angle altered the tail wheel’s pivot point. This event, combined with the vibration induced during rollout on the gravel runway, allowed the tail wheel to unlock.

Contributing factors

  • cause Damaged/degraded
  • cause Directional control — Not attained/maintained
  • Contributed to outcome

Conditions

Weather
VMC, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.