Accident Details
On October 19, 2013, at 1157 eastern daylight time, an Aerotek Pitts S-1T, registration N53CG, was substantially damaged during a runway excursion and nose-over event while landing at Punta Gorda Airport (PGD) in Punta Gorda, Florida. The airline transport pilot and owner was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local personal flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot reported conducting a "normal" three-point landing on the runway centerline with a "normal" rollout. While decelerating through 50 mph, the airplane began to jerk to the right. The pilot applied left rudder, and the airplane responded somewhat but continued right. He then applied full power and full aft control stick to abort the landing. The airplane departed the runway to the right, refused to respond to control inputs, and plowed into the grass before nosing over.
Witness Observations
An air traffic controller in the airport tower witnessed the accident. She stated that the airplane was cleared to land. According to her, the landing was not normal; the airplane went side to side, down on one wheel then the other, before going off the right side of the runway and flipping over. The controller noted that she had observed the pilot perform numerous landings in the past, describing his landings in another airplane as greased, but the Pitts landings were unsteady and inconsistent.
Pilot Information
The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with a rating for airplane multi-engine land and a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane. His most recent FAA third-class medical certificate was issued on March 5, 2013. He reported 25,000 total hours of flight experience, with 10 hours in the accident airplane make and model.
Aircraft Information
According to FAA records, the airplane was manufactured in 1982. Its most recent airworthiness certificate was issued to the pilot-owner on March 11, 2013. The most recent annual inspection was completed on February 8, 2013, at 1,050 aircraft hours.
An FAA aviation safety inspector examined the wreckage and accident site. The marks on the left tire assembly, runway, and left main landing gear were consistent with a left side-load at touchdown and overstress of the landing gear. Photographs revealed substantial damage to the engine compartment, cockpit, and vertical fin structures.
Previous Event
The pilot expressed concern that the airplane had suffered a structural failure in the area surrounding the attach point for the right main landing gear and requested a second inspection. This area had been repaired and modified after the pilot experienced a similar event in the accident airplane approximately one year earlier. A detailed examination was performed by an airframe and powerplant mechanic under FAA supervision. During the previous repair, the original 48-inch-wide main landing gear system was replaced with a new 62-inch-wide system, requiring welding of structural tubes. The welds were intact with no anomalies; all damage to the landing gear system was due to overstress.
In a written statement following the previous event, the pilot stated that the loss of directional control resulted from the length of his legs, the geometry of his size-13 shoe, the rudder pedals, and the confined space. He attempted to alleviate the issue with a change of footwear, but that choice only aggravated the rudder control problem. He stated that application of left rudder resulted in inadvertent application of right brake and subsequent loss of directional control.