Accident Details
On September 22, 2022, at about 0700 eastern daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Zenith CH 750, registration N2992W, was substantially damaged during an accident near Cincinnati, Ohio. The private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
Pilot Account
According to the pilot, during the takeoff roll he noticed that “something felt wrong.” He reduced power and the airplane started to “bounce” on the runway. The airplane briefly climbed before landing hard on the nosewheel.
Examination Findings
An examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the engine firewall was buckled. Further examination revealed that a control yoke nut and bolt were missing. Both pieces of hardware were subsequently located inside the fuselage. An examination of the hardware revealed that it did not look like any of the other hardware that was attached to the control system. Review of the engineering drawings for the airplane revealed that the separated nut and bolt were not the correct type called for; the design specified a bolt secured with a castle nut and cotter pin. The pilot further described the findings by stating that, “There was a hardware store nut used on the wrong type bolt. Nut came off and bolt fell out [of] elevator control.”
Maintenance Records
A review of the airplane’s maintenance records revealed that it had undergone three annual condition inspections since it had been completed. The records did not note that any work had been performed on the control yoke or replacement of any flight control hardware.