Aircraft: Aerotek Pitts S-1T. Injuries: None. Location: Billings, Mont. Aircraft damage: Substantial.
What reportedly happened: The pilot was returning to his home airport. During the first landing attempt he lost control of the airplane during the landing roll, so he aborted the landing.
On the second landing attempt, he again was not able to maintain directional control and subsequently realized that there was not enough remaining runway for him to successfully abort the landing. The airplane went off the runway, nosed over, and came to rest on its back.
The post-accident examination revealed that the weld that attached the tailwheel tube to the fuselage had separated. This would have allowed for the tailwheel assembly to freely move left and right without corresponding rudder input, meaning the pilot would not be able to maintain directional control during the landing roll.
Probable cause: The pilot’s inability to maintain directional control during the landing roll because of the failure of the tailwheel support bracket.
NTSB Identification: WPR13LA063
This December 2012 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Can’t say with any certainty that I would have been able to do any better nor that the following technique was not used but after the first aborted landing attempt due to directional control problem I would have landed two point no later than the numbers and held the tail off the surface as long as possible. Once the tailwheel touched I would have used differential braking to keep the nose deviation from straight ahead to an absolute minimum rather than rely on the rudder which was obviously insufficient for aerodynamic directional control under the circumstances. Landing long and/or being late on the binders while stomping the rudder pedals countering directional excursions likely contributed to the overrun and flip. Lucky for the pilot for it could have ended much worse. Just my opinion.