- Date
- July 25, 2009, 12:30 local (17:30 UTC)
- Place
- Oshkosh, WI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N56SPPilgrim Samuel W JR RV-6
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20090725020209A
- Case key
- 74372
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The failure of the rudder pedal which resulted in the pilot's inability to maintain directional control of the aircraft.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that during the landing roll the right rudder pedal welds failed. The airplane turned to the left into the wind and departed the left side of the runway. Because he had no right rudder or right brake authority, the pilot applied left rudder and brake in order to avoid a ditch which paralleled the runway. The right main gear collapsed and the firewall was damaged. Inspection of the airplane revealed the left seat, right rudder pedal had failed. The rudder pedals were tubular and the upper welds where the vertical tubes are connected to the cross-member had failed.
Factual narrative
On July 25, 2009, at 1230 central daylight time, an amateur built experimental RV-6, experienced a rudder pedal failure which resulted in a loss of directional control and a landing gear collapse while landing at the Whitman Airport, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The personal flight was operating under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight departed from the Muscatine Municipal Airport (MUT), Muscatine, Iowa, at 1100. The pilot reported that during the landing roll the right rudder pedal welds failed. The airplane turned to the left into the wind and departed the left side of the runway. Because he had no right rudder or right brake authority, the pilot applied left rudder and brake in order to avoid a ditch which paralleled the runway. The right main gear collapsed and the firewall was damaged. Inspection of the airplane revealed the left seat, right rudder pedal had failed. The rudder pedals were tubular and the upper welds where the vertical tubes are connected to the cross-member had failed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N56SP
- Reported as
- Pilgrim Samuel W JR RV-6
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 23088
- Airframe hours
- 670
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Berry Damon R
- Registered owner
- Berry Damon R
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · March 31, 2009 · 17 hours before
- Departed
- MUT · Muscatine, IA
- Destination
- OSH · Oshkosh, WI
- Airport
- OSH · Witman Regional Airport, runway 36L, 8,002 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 58
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 1, 2008
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 400 in this make and model · 12,000 as pilot in command · 44 in the last 90 days · 22 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 15 knots, gusting 21
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.67 inHg
- Observed at
- OSH
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on September 16, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 535 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.