On October 4, 2021, about 1200 Pacific daylight time, a Piper J3C-65, N3453K, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Garberville, California. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot of the tailwheel equipped airplane reported that, following a wheel landing, as the tailwheel touched down, the airplane veered to the right. The pilot attempted to abort the landing; however, the airplane did not have enough airspeed, and was “totally out of control.” The airplane subsequently exited the right side of the runway and impacted an unoccupied parked airplane before it came to rest upright.

Postaccident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the right wing and both wing lift struts were substantially damaged. Flight control continuity was established from all primary flight control surfaces to the cockpit controls. The examination also showed that the airplane’s tailwheel rotated to the left, stopped at the detent and then swiveled freely when force was applied to the tailwheel. However, when tailwheel was rotated to the right, the tailwheel stopped at the detent and did not swivel beyond the detent when pressure was applied.

The tailwheel assembly was removed from the airplane and examined. Examination revealed that the tailwheel did not have any visible damage. Both left and right compression spring assemblies had been disconnected from the tailwheel steering arm. One spring and chain connector clip was not present; however, a braided portion of safety wire remained attached to steering arm, where the clip would normally be installed. The tailwheel rotated left and right and remained within the steering detents. When sufficient force was applied to the tailwheel both to the left and right directions, it rotated past the detent and fully swiveled. The tailwheel was disassembled and no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions were observed that would have precluded normal operation.

A review of the airplane maintenance records did not reveal any recent maintenance conducted on the tailwheel assembly.