A TAYLORCRAFT EXITED THE RWY AND STRUCK THE PROP AFTER AN UNQUALIFIED PILOT APPLIED THE LEFT SEAT ONLY BRAKES TOO AGGRESSIVELY WITH THE FLYING PLT IN THE RIGHT SEAT.
Synopsis
A TAYLORCRAFT EXITED THE RWY AND STRUCK THE PROP AFTER AN UNQUALIFIED PILOT APPLIED THE LEFT SEAT ONLY BRAKES TOO AGGRESSIVELY WITH THE FLYING PLT IN THE RIGHT SEAT.
Narrative
MY ACFT HAS A TAILWHEEL; NO ELECTRICAL SYS; ONLY 65 HORSEPOWER; AND HEEL BRAKE PEDALS ON THE L SIDE ONLY. ON THE DAY OF THE INCIDENT; I TOOK A PAX TO A FLY-IN BREAKFAST AND AIR SHOW AT ZZZ. HE IS A NEWLY-LICENSED PVT PLT WITH 48 HRS IN PIPER PA28'S (TRICYCLE GEAR AND TOE BRAKES); AND DOES NOT YET HAVE A TAILWHEEL ENDORSEMENT. HE HAS FLOWN WITH ME IN MY ACFT SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE; WHILE HE WAS A STUDENT PLT. AT THE FLY-IN; THE MARSHALLERS PARKED US IN A GRASS FIELD. WHEN WE WERE READY TO DEPART; THERE WAS NOTHING NEARBY TO WHICH TO TIE THE TAIL; SO I HAD MY PLT PAX SIT IN THE L SEAT; HOLDING THE BRAKES AND HANDLING THE THROTTLE WHILE I HAND-PROPPED THE ENG. I THOUGHT THIS WAS A SAFER ARRANGEMENT THAN HAVING HIM HANDLE THE PROP. WE HAD A HEADWIND FLYING BACK TO MY HOME FIELD; ZZZ2. NEARING ZZZ3 I CALCULATED GND SPD AND ETE FOR THE REMAINDER OF OUR FLT. WE HAD 30 MINS TO GO; AND SOMEWHAT MORE THAN AN HR OF FUEL REMAINING; SO I DECIDED TO LAND AT ZZZ3 FOR FUEL. ZZZ3 HAS NO AWOS; BUT THE WINDSOCK WAS INDICATING WINDS FROM 090 DEGS. (MY WX BRIEFING THAT MORNING INCLUDED THE ZZZ4 TAF FOR WINDS 090 DEGS AT 8 KTS; AND THE FORECAST WINDS ALOFT AT 3000 FT WERE 090 DEGS AT 5 KTS.) THE RWY CHOICES AT ZZZ3 WERE XX/XY; 150 FT WIDE GRASS; OR XZ/XW 75 FT WIDE CONCRETE. I CHOSE THE 50 DEG L XWIND RATHER THAN A 90 DEG XWIND ON RWY XX/XY. ON L BASE; I TOLD MY PAX THAT I'D BE HOLDING A L SIDESLIP ON FINAL FOR THE XWIND; AND PLANNED A WHEEL LNDG FOR BETTER RUDDER CTL IN THE XWIND. HE SAID; 'LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU NEED THE BRAKES.' AT THAT POINT; I EXPECTED I WOULD ONLY NEED HIM TO APPLY THE BRAKES AS WE ROLLED TO A STOP AT THE FUEL PUMP. I ENCOUNTERED STRONG L XWIND GUSTS ON FINAL. HOLDING THE L WING DOWN AND MAINTAINING RWY ALIGNMENT WITH THE RUDDER; I REDUCED PWR AND TOUCHED DOWN WITH FIRST THE L MAIN WHEEL; THEN THE R. I WAS DECELERATING; IN THAT VULNERABLE TRANSITION PHASE IN A WHEEL LNDG WHEN THERE IS LESS AIRFLOW ACROSS THE RUDDER BUT THE TAILWHEEL IS STILL OFF THE GND; WHEN A GUST FROM THE L WEATHERVANED THE NOSE OF THE PLANE TO THE L; LIFTING THE AIRPLANE OFF THE L MAIN WHEEL. I LEVELED THE WINGS AND KEPT THE R WINGTIP FROM HITTING THE RWY; BUT WITHOUT ADEQUATE RUDDER CTL; THE AIRPLANE ROLLED OFF THE L SIDE OF THE RWY. THE THROTTLE WAS AT IDLE; BUT THE AIRPLANE ACCELERATED AS IT ROLLED THROUGH THE GRASS THAT SLOPES DOWN AWAY FROM THE CONCRETE RWY. THE AIRPLANE WAS ROLLING TOWARD A FIELD OF 6-FT-TALL CORN BESIDE THE RWY WHEN I SHOUTED; 'BRAKES!' AT THAT POINT; MY PAX; WHO HAD BEEN HOLDING HIS HANDS AND FEET CLR OF THE CTLS; STOMPED ON THE HEEL BRAKES. THE BRAKES (WHICH WERE WELL-ADJUSTED WITH NEW LININGS INSTALLED JUST 2 MONTHS BEFORE) LOCKED THE WHEELS; AND THE AIRPLANE PIVOTED UP ONTO ITS NOSE; COMING TO AN IMMEDIATE STOP WITH THE PROP HORIZ ON THE GRASS. THANKS TO SHOULDER HARNESSES INSTALLED DURING THE AIRPLANE RESTORATION 2 YRS AGO; THERE WERE NO INJURIES OTHER THAN A SCRAPED KNEE. THERE WAS NO SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE TO THE AIRPLANE; BUT THE WOODEN PROP WAS CRACKED; AND THE SPINNER; NOSE COWLING; LOWER COWLING; AND AIRBOX WERE DENTED. LESSONS LEARNED: I SHOULD NOT HAVE LET A PLT WITHOUT TAILWHEEL EXPERIENCE OPERATE THE ONLY SET OF BRAKE PEDALS. AFTER HAND-PROPPING THE ENG; WITH IT SAFELY STABILIZED AT IDLE; I SHOULD HAVE HAD HIM SET THE PARKING BRAKE AND SLIDE OVER TO THE R SEAT WHILE I TOOK THE L SEAT WITH THE BRAKE PEDALS. WITH A LIGHT TAIL-DRAGGER; SOMETIMES A 90 DEG XWIND ON A WIDE GRASS RWY MIGHT BE PREFERABLE TO A 50 DEG XWIND ON A NARROWER PAVED RWY. WHEN ENCOUNTERING GUSTY XWINDS ON SHORT FINAL; I SHOULD HAVE CONSIDERED A GAR; TO EVALUATE AN APCH TO THE OTHER RWY; OR TO THINK ABOUT DIVERTING TO ANOTHER ARPT WITH A RWY ALIGNED MORE INTO THE WIND. IT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO HANDLE A TRICKY XWIND LNDG FROM THE UNFAMILIAR R SEAT. IF I HAD HAD MY L HAND ON THE WHEEL AND MY R HAND ON THE THROTTLE AS USUAL (RATHER THAN THE OPPOSITE); I MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO REACT MORE QUICKLY AND PRECISELY; AND KEEP THE AIRPLANE ON THE RWY.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.