ERA22LA247

The pilot reported that, during a personal flight while in the traffic pattern, he applied power after the first landing to perform a touch-and-go landing. During the takeoff roll, the pilot moved the flaps from a landing to takeoff setting, at which time the airplane began pulling hard to the left. The pilot attempted to correct this movement with full right rudder and right brake, but the airplane continued off the runway and into grass. The pilot reduced power to idle during the runway excursion but was unable to control the direction of the airplane, and it nosed over. The wings, fuselage, and vertical stabilizer sustained substantial damage. The left nose landing gear (NLG) steering connecting rod had fractured at its connection point. The right steering connecting rod remained connected. Laboratory examination of the fracture surfaces of the rod end fitting revealed slant fractures consistent with overstress. The plastic deformation along with the slant fracture features were consistent with bending overstress. The NLG connecting rod had likely fractured and become disconnected during the runway excursion or noseover; the laboratory examination found that the fracture was due to a one-time instance of overload and was not the result of cumulative applications of force. Furthermore, the airplane veered to the left, which was consistent with the left-turning tendencies that would be experienced upon power application during a touch-and-go. It is possible that during the touch-and-go landing attempt, the pilot was distracted with changing the flap setting. Ultimately, he did not maintain directional control of the airplane, which resulted in its departure from the runway surface.

On May 29, 2022, about 1015 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 150F airplane, N8919S, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Jacksonville Executive Airport (CRG), Jacksonville, Florida. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The pilot reported that he planned to remain in the traffic pattern for touch-and-go landing practice. The pilot completed the first landing of the flight and, after an uneventful landing roll, added full power for takeoff. While raising the flaps from 30°, the airplane “started pulling very hard to the left.” The pilot attempted to correct the situation with full right rudder and right brake, but the airplane continued off the runway and into grass. The pilot reduced power to idle during the runway excursion, but he was not able to control the direction of the airplane, and it nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and vertical stabilizer. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left steering connecting rod had fractured at its connection point on the nose landing gear (NLG). The right steering connecting rod remained connected, and the NLG sustained little-to-no damage. The NLG was found in a left-turning position and could not be moved by hand in any direction. The National Transportation Safety Board Materials Laboratory examined the steering connecting rod assembly and found that it exhibited a fractured rod end fitting. Examination of the fractured rod end fitting revealed that the threaded shank portion above the stop nut exhibited plastic deformation. Examination of the fracture surfaces of the rod end fitting revealed slant fractures consistent with overstress. The plastic deformation along with the slant fracture features were consistent with bending overstress. The figure below shows the left steering connecting rod fracture areas and a Cessna illustrated parts catalog drawing indicating these areas on the NLG. Figure - Fractured rod end fitting of the left steering connecting rod assembly. Review of the maintenance records found that, during the May 8, 2021, annual inspection, the NLG scissors were greased. No other recent maintenance entries noted work on or anomalies with the NLG. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, chapter 5, states in part the following about torque: To the pilot, “torque” (the left turning tendency of the airplane) is made up of four elements that cause or produce a twisting or rotating motion around at least one of the airplane’s three axes. These four elements are: 1. Torque reaction from engine and propeller 2. Corkscrewing effect of the slipstream 3. Gyroscopic action of the propeller 4. Asymmetric loading of the propeller (P-factor)