Incident Description
The pilot was landing on a gravel airstrip. During the landing, the airplane bounced upon touchdown. When the airplane touched down again, the pilot began to apply the brakes. As expected, the tail of the airplane began to rise slightly. The rear seat passenger did not realize that this condition was normal and braced his feet against the rudder pedals. This action applied increased brake pressure.
Sequence of Events
The increased brake pressure caused the airplane to nose over. The nose-over resulted in substantial damage to the rudder, vertical stabilizer, and wing lift struts. The gravel airstrip surface likely contributed to the initial bounce.
Damage
The accident resulted in substantial damage to multiple components of the airplane, including the rudder, vertical stabilizer, and wing lift struts. No other details about the extent of damage or other aircraft parts were provided in the source.
Notable Factors
The source mentions that the rear seat passenger's intervention was unintentional, as they were unaware of the normal tail-rise during braking. The pilot's application of brakes was standard procedure, but the passenger's action inadvertently increased brake pressure beyond intended levels.