What happened
On 11 March 2009, a Zenair CH 701UL, registration G-CDGR, was performing a private flight near Conington, Cambridgeshire. The pilot was returning to land at the Main Hall Farm grass strip, which has a length of approximately 700 meters, under wind conditions of 6 knots from 240 degrees. The approach was conducted at 55 mph with flaps extended.
Upon touchdown on the main gear, the aircraft began to veer toward the left. The sequence of the excursion saw the wheels contact the ground, followed by the nosewheel, before the aircraft departed the grass runway. As the aircraft entered an adjacent corn field, the rate of leftward turn intensified. The left main wheel lifted into the air, causing the aircraft to tilt to the right. This movement resulted in the right wing leading edge striking the ground, followed by the propeller blades hitting the earth, which caused the engine to stop immediately.
There were no injuries to the pilot during the event.
The investigation
The investigation examined the mechanical and operational factors following the excursion. The aircraft sustained damage to the engine mounts, engine firewall, propeller blades, and the right wing leading edge slat.
The pilot suggested two potential causes for the loss of directional control. The first possibility was that the nosewheel fork might have been damaged by a previous heavy landing. The second possibility involved a potential error in pedal application. The aircraft was configured with rudder pedals for both a pilot and a co-pilot seat; however, the pilot's right pedal was positioned very close to the left pedal without a central divider. The pilot considered that in an attempt to correct the leftward veer using the right pedal, he might have accidentally applied pressure to the left pedal, thereby increasing the leftward turn.