ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 272471
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| Date: | Sunday 25 February 2007 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Kitplanes for Africa Bushbaby |
| Owner/operator: | |
| Registration: | ZU-EIR |
| MSN: | 113-08-05-WB |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: / Occupants: |
| Aircraft damage: | |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Runway 35 at Cato Ridge Airfield -
 South Africa
|
| Phase: | |
| Nature: | |
| Departure airport: | Cato Ridge Airfield near Empangeni |
| Cato Ridge Airfield near Empangeni | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA S.A. |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot reported that he had been accompanied by the owner of the aircraft to do performance test flights as part of the Proving Flight Authority. After twenty minutes of local flying, whilst on the base leg for runway 35, the pilot felt something drop onto his foot. He later discovered that it was a retaining bolt from the throttle torque tube. This caused the throttle torque tube to drop onto structural airframe tubes. Although runway 09 was the most suitable runway to use with an easterly wind prevailing at the time, the pilot was unsure about the throttle response and control and therefore elected to land on runway 35 as the aircraft was already positioned on a base leg for this runway. The touchdown was uneventful and the pilot was able to maintain directional control with some right aileron application. When the tail wheel settled at a fast walking pace, the aircraft started to veer to the right. The pilot attempted to compensate with full left rudder, which was insufficient to maintain directional control. He then applied left brake as well but this seemed to have no effect. The aircraft departed the runway at 90 degrees in an easterly direction and struck a sandy verge, causing the main undercarriage to collapse and the aircraft to come to rest on its belly. As part of the investigation, the manufacturer found that the bolt holding the throttle bell-crank in position (No. 7 on the diagram) came loose during normal operation. This problem was an assembly/installation fault and not a design flaw. The manufacturer said that this was the first reported incident; various owners were contacted and none reported a similar experience. A service bulletin was issued by the manufacturer to all owners instructing them to ensure the following on installation: that the bronze bush freely rotated in the welded tab, that Loctite was applied to the bolt thread on final assembly, that the bolt was nipped against the bronze bush so that they could rotate together and that the assembly manual and inspection checklist highlighted this issue. The pilot and passenger sustained no injuries. The aircraft sustained damage to the propeller, fuselage, cowlings, right wing and undercarriage. The aircraft had a valid Proving Flight Authority to Fly, which had been issued on 4 July 2007 with an expiry date of 3 January 2008 or 40 hours, whichever came first. At the time of the accident the aircraft had accumulated 32,0 airframe hours since new. See attachment on page 2. CA 12-13a 23 FEBRUARY 2006 Page 2 of 3 Probable Cause During a forced landing, the pilot lost directional control of the aircraft after touchdown.
Accident investigation:
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Sources:
S.A. CAA
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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