- Date
- May 4, 1991, 09:20 local (13:20 UTC)
- Place
- Stuart, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N78583Piper PA-12
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910504016619A
- Case key
- 32861
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
An inadequate annual inspection which failed to detect corrosion on the rudder cable. The pilot lost direction control during landing when the rudder cable broke.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
After lowering the tailwheel during the landing roll the aircraft veered to the left. The pilot applied right rudder to correct this but the rt rudder pedal travelled to the floor. The acft then ran off the left side of the rwy and collided with a parked acft. Exam of the acft revealed that the rt rudder cable failed due to corrosion approx 1 inch fwd of the turnbuckle. Review of the acft logbook revealed that an annual insp was performed on July 1, 1990 & the acft had accumulated 428 hrs since.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N78583
- Reported as
- Piper PA-12
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12-3970
- Airframe hours
- 2,720
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Red Baron Aerial Ads, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Red Baron Aerial Ads, Inc.
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 1, 1990 · 428 hours before
- Airport
- SUA · Witham Field, runway 2, 5,000 × 200 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
- 46
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 5,420 total · 175 in this make and model · 5,360 as pilot in command · 120 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FPR, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N78583 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.