Accident Details
A flight instructor in a tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that during the landing roll, as soon as the tailwheel touched the runway, the airplane veered to the right. The instructor attempted to recover by applying full left rudder, left brake, and right aileron. Despite these inputs, the left wing impacted the ground as the airplane exited the runway to the right, and the airplane subsequently nosed over.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing lift strut, both wings, and empennage.
Instructor Observations
The flight instructor noted that skid marks on the runway indicated the tailwheel was not rolling freely. Additionally, during a postaccident inspection, the left brake pedal initially went to its lower limit upon depression but later held brake pressure during a second depression. The instructor stated he would not have been able to recover the airplane to the centerline because of the initial brake pressure response. He also reported no brake or tailwheel anomalies during the run-up or departure and that the student pilot did not make noticeable control inputs during the landing sequence.
Weather Information
Approximately 10 minutes before the accident, the wind was reported as 310° true at 13 knots, gusting to 19 knots. The airplane landed on runway 26. An online commercial weather service provider reported that a nearby station, about 2 minutes before the accident, recorded wind from 010° at 21 miles per hour (mph), gusting to 24 mph.
Postaccident Inspection
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector examined the airplane two days after the accident and reported seeing nothing abnormal with the brakes. He also observed that the tailwheel was turning.
Passenger Video Evidence
A passenger in the rear seat provided a video showing the landing roll from the rear seat looking forward. Both the right and left control yokes are visible, but the rudder pedals are not. At the beginning of the sequence, the instructor (in the right seat) had his right hand on the control yoke, and the student (in the left seat) had his left hand on the control yoke. Right aileron was applied. During the landing roll, the student added his right hand to the control yoke, and as the airplane veered to the right, left aileron was applied. The camera then panned to the left as the right wing lifted and the left wing impacted the ground. The airplane subsequently veered left and nosed over.