BFO93LA097

The airplane veered off the left side of the runway during landing rollout and entered a ditch. A gusting crosswind existed at the time. The pilot stated that the airplane began a left turn when the tail wheel touched the landing surface. He applied right rudder and right brake, but the airplane continued to veer to the left. The tail wheel steering assembly was examined after the accident and found to be inoperative. Components inside the assembly were examined and found to be worn.

On May 26, 1993, at 1140 eastern daylight time, a Bellanca 8GCBC airplane, N2510Z, was substantially damaged during landing at the Mifflin County Airport, Reedsville, Pennsylvania. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The personal flight departed Julian, Pennsylvania, and was conducted under 14 CFR 91.

According to an FAA inspector, the pilot landed on the parallel taxiway to runway 6. The taxiway was being used as an auxiliary runway because a glider show was occupying runway 6. During landing rollout, the airplane "veered to the left into a ditch." The right main gear was sheered off and the right wing impacted the ground, bending the spar. The inspector also reported that a "stiff crosswind" prevailed at the time of the accident.

According to the pilot.

"I established a base leg for the taxiway parallel to runway 06 and touched down on this taxiway about 100 feet from the beginning of the hard surface. I touched down on the main gear tail low and at the time the tail wheel touched the hard surface the aircraft began to turn left. I used right rudder to correct this turn to the left but to no avail. As the aircraft was continuing to turn left past the center of the hard surface, I applied right brake which did not stop the continuing turn to the left. The aircraft went down a quite steep embankment to the left of the taxiway that formed a ditch where the right main gear was broken off the aircraft and the propeller contacted the ground . . . ."

At 1146 hours, the reported wind conditions at State College, Pennsylvania, were 300 degrees at 11 knots gusting to 14 knots. State College is located about 17 statute miles from the accident site.

According to the FAA inspector, the steering control on the tail wheel assembly was found to be inoperative during the examination of the wreckage at the accident site. The assembly was removed from the airplane, disassembled and inspected. According to the FAA; "The arm assembly (P/N 3214) was worn and the spring (P/N 3222) was bent aft and had not been tempered."

According to the FAA, the passenger of the airplane, Mr. Joseph M. Bennis, refused to give a statement to the FAA concerning the accident. In violation of 49 CFR 831, Mr. Bennis also began to disassemble the airplane immediately following the accident, while ignoring requests to cease by FAA inspectors.