- Date
- May 1, 2022, 12:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Greenwood, SC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N451WANorth American SNJ-6
- Defining event
- Landing: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- Case key
- 105027
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 loss of directional control due to a fractured tailwheel steering linkage assembly.
Findings · 1
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
According to the flight instructor, during the approach to landing the student pilot correctly flared and maintained pitch attitude and airspeed as the airplane touched down. When the tailwheel contacted the runway, the airplane immediately yawed to the left uncontrollably. The airplane ground looped, and the main landing gear collapsed before coming to a stop. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the fuselage and right wing. An examination of the tailwheel steering linkage assembly revealed the castellated nut fitting fractured.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N451WA
- Reported as
- North American SNJ-6
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 112227
- Built
- 1945
- Airframe hours
- 7,478
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1, 600 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Warbird Adventures Inc.
- Registered owner
- Warbird Adventures Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · January 2, 2022 · 77 hours before
- Departed
- GRD · Greenwood, SC
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- GRD · Greenwood County Airport, runway 27, 5,001 × 100 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Rear
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,011 total · 286 in this make and model · 916 as pilot in command · 160 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 68
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 13, 2021
- Seat
- Front
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 800 total · 10 in this make and model · 7,700 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,300 ft broken
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KGRD
- METAR
- METAR KGRD 011656Z AUTO 19008KT 10SM BKN033 BKN041 26/17 A3009 RMK AO2 SLP184 T02610172
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 10, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 11.6 MB in all.