Accident Details
On May 22, 2016, at approximately 1330 central daylight time, a Sikes Zenith CH-750 STOL, registration N925PS, was destroyed following a collision with trees and terrain after takeoff from Lawrence County Airport (2M2) in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. The sport pilot and a passenger were seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight, which was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
Pilot Information
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the pilot held a sport pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. He did not possess an FAA medical certificate, nor was he required to. The pilot reported a total of 40 hours of flight experience, all accumulated during training for his certificate. A review of his pilot logbook showed he had not flown in the nearly 12 months preceding the accident flight. The pilot held no other FAA certificates, including no repairman certificate for the accident airplane.
Aircraft and Maintenance History
The two-seat, single-engine, high-wing airplane was manufactured in 2016 and equipped with a Continental O-200 series engine. Maintenance logbooks contained only two entries: a condition inspection signed by the pilot on March 16, 2016, and an airworthiness inspection signed by an FAA designated airworthiness representative. The hobbs meter indicated 4.1 total aircraft hours at the accident site. No other documents related to the airplane's construction were found—no construction plan or log, manufacturer's flight testing instructions, flight test plan, weight and balance data, taxi-testing data, or operator's checklist.
FAA investigators learned through interviews that the pilot purchased the airplane partially assembled from its original owner. Approximately 13 months before the accident, a maintenance facility performed significant construction and modification, including installation of the rudder. The pilot later undid or modified that work because it did not meet his specifications. It could not be determined who performed the most recent work on the rudder and rudder control system prior to the accident flight.
Investigation Findings
In an interview with an FAA aviation safety inspector, the pilot stated that after liftoff, he applied right rudder to maintain runway heading, but the airplane continued to the left. As he applied more right rudder, the turn increased in severity. The airplane departed the left side of the runway and airport property, striking trees and terrain. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the rudder control cables had been rigged backward.