NTSB Final Report, RV-6A, N341SS, 4/17/2022

[RV8JD]

After flying over to Richland (KRLD) for lunch on Friday, 'ArlingtonRV' and I walked over to the open-sided community hangar to see if there were any aircraft of interest parked there. In the back of the hangar we came across the wreckage of an RV-6A, N341SS, that had substantial damage.

After getting home I looked up the accident. There were two people in the airplane and one had serious injuries, the other had no injuries.

Link to NTSB Final Report --> https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/104958/pdf

Link to the Docket --> https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=104958

Analysis

The pilot reported that, during the takeoff ground roll, he slowly started to pull the control stick back for takeoff after the airplane attained 55-60 knots. The airplane subsequently veered left off the runway despite application of full right rudder. The airplane’s left wing struck sage brush, which caused the airplane to cartwheel and nose over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the vertical stabilizer, and the rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Probable Cause and Findings

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the takeoff ground roll.
​

Aviation Safety Network --> https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/277509

Kathryn's Report --> http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2022/04/vans-rv-6a-n341ss-accident-occurred.html


From the Docket:




Some pics I took:

 

[nohoflyer]

So simple pilot error?

“The pilot failed to maintain directional control”.

Sounds more complicated than that for such a strong force to push him all the way off the runway.

 

[Girraf]

You'd think the report would address, in any capacity, the disconnect between drifting left and a full right ridder application.

Insane crosswind?
Inaccurate pilot statement? (full right rudder in fact not applied)
Rudder not achieved full deflection despite full pedal application?
Dragging left brake?
Pilot inadvertently applying left brake?

Seems like they really phoned it in on this one. At least tell us that you considered all of these possibilities and admit (as necessary) that you couldn't rule any out instead of being completely mute.

 

[jrs14855]

NTSB

Note that the NTSB "did not travel to the scene of the accident"

 

[Snowflake]

You'd think the report would address, in any capacity, the disconnect between drifting left and a full right ridder application.

Since the final report is out, i'll speculate.

I wonder if this RV has the battery box between the rudder pedals. I occasionally rest my right foot against that box in flight, to stabilize my rudder and reduce the tail wagging. Could it be possible that the pilot inadvertently was pushing on the battery box and not the rudder pedal, negating any "right rudder" input? It's about all I can think of that would prevent a "full" right rudder from making you do a pretty sharp right turn at 60kt.

 

[airguy]

Since the final report is out, i'll speculate.

I wonder if this RV has the battery box between the rudder pedals. I occasionally rest my right foot against that box in flight, to stabilize my rudder and reduce the tail wagging. Could it be possible that the pilot inadvertently was pushing on the battery box and not the rudder pedal, negating any "right rudder" input? It's about all I can think of that would prevent a "full" right rudder from making you do a pretty sharp right turn at 60kt.

Or he let the left main drift off the edge of the runway prior to full right input. Full power at 55 knots and raising the nose, P-factor is significant.

Combined with the full flaps shown in the on-scene pic, and the nosewheel folded back, I wonder if this wasn't the result of a pranged landing and attempted go-around.

Really good example of how the wings accordioned to absorb energy when it was cartwheeling, though.

 

[rv8ch]

This NTSB report seems to be based 100% on the statement from the pilot. Humans are proven to not be very reliable when they describe things that happened, particularly when something happened to them personally.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/apr/05/short-term-memory-illusions-study

https://study.com/learn/lesson/memory-distortion-types-examples-effect-schema.html

The only thing I think we can take away from this is that if you stop flying the aircraft bad things can happen. Thankfully this one was not fatal, and I hope the injured passenger has had a fully recovery.

 

[RV8JD]

Note that the pilot was inexperienced. From the NTSB Final Report:

"Flight Time: 92 hours (Total, all aircraft), 22 hours (Total, this make and model), 34 hours (Pilot In Command, all aircraft), 16 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft), 3 hours (Last 30 days, all aircraft)"​

Throw in some possible squirrelly winds and probably his unfamiliarity with the free-castoring nose wheel and the RV-6A in general and …

We also don't know how thorough the pilot's transition training was (or was not).

 

[BobTurner]

As a cfi giving flight reviews to licensed pilots, I cannot tell you how often I have seen this play out: Takeoff roll, nose departs center line, pilot takes no corrective action. It’s as if they are paralyzed with fear of pushing the wrong pedal, and praying’ll they’ll be airborne before going off the side. A few years ago a low time RV (nosewheel) pilot here did exactly the same thing as the pilot in this post. It’s not all that uncommon.

 

[Snowflake]

This NTSB report seems to be based 100% on the statement from the pilot. Humans are proven to not be very reliable when they describe things that happened, particularly when something happened to them personally.

I've found that statements made at the scene, right after the incident, have been much closer to accuracy. The longer it takes between the incident and the statement, the more time the brain has to process and "interpolate" what it thinks happened. Auto insurance adjusters weigh the time between incident and accident report in their evaluation of statement accuracy for this reason.

 

[PCHunt]

Contributing factor

Low time pilot:

"92 hours (Total, all aircraft), 22 hours (Total, this make and model), 34 hours (Pilot In Command,
all aircraft), 16 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft), 3 hours (Last 30 days, all aircraft)"

 

[lr172]

As a cfi giving flight reviews to licensed pilots, I cannot tell you how often I have seen this play out: Takeoff roll, nose departs center line, pilot takes no corrective action. It’s as if they are paralyzed with fear of pushing the wrong pedal, and praying’ll they’ll be airborne before going off the side. A few years ago a low time RV (nosewheel) pilot here did exactly the same thing as the pilot in this post. It’s not all that uncommon.

I suspect this is made worse by classic training in spam can. Instructors never seem to tell the students to pull back on the stick prior to rotation (seems to be strictly reserved for the seldom used short/soft field TO) and with all the weight on nose, the steerable nosewheel kind of keeps them going straight without a lot of pedal effort (simply holding it centered is all that is needed). If his 20 hours in the 6 were all light wind days, I can imagine an issue the first day he goes out with a strong x wind from the left. The spam cans don't seem to pull left that hard, but the 6 does with all that reserve power and the uncoupled nosewheel, even worse with a left x wind.

Can't help but wonder if he had transition training and if it included this type of difference.

Larry

 

[pjc]

Low time pilot:

"92 hours (Total, all aircraft), 22 hours (Total, this make and model), 34 hours (Pilot In Command,
all aircraft), 16 hours (Last 90 days, all aircraft), 3 hours (Last 30 days, all aircraft)"

I suspect this is made worse by classic training in spam can. Instructors never seem to tell the students to pull back on the stick prior to rotation (seems to be strictly reserved for the seldom used short/soft field TO) and with all the weight on nose, the steerable nosewheel kind of keeps them going straight without a lot of pedal effort (simply holding it centered is all that is needed). If his 20 hours in the 6 were all light wind days, I can imagine an issue the first day he goes out with a strong x wind from the left. The spam cans don't seem to pull left that hard, but the 6 does with all that reserve power and the uncoupled nosewheel, even worse with a left x wind.

Can't help but wonder if he had transition training and if it included this type of difference.

Larry

I certainly had these bad habits before (excellent) transition training. I'm now focused on keeping it _on_the_centerline_ until well fast enough to fly. Hope and trying to "pull it off the ground" before you hit the edge will kill you with either a stall or ground loop. Always remember, the RV is fun, and its not TRYING to kill you, but it most certainly will if you let it.


Always fly the airplane, not the other way around !


Peter