The pilot stated that just after takeoff, the RANS S6S entered “uncoordinated flight to the left.” He applied right rudder to correct, but felt that the rudder was ineffective.
After clearing trees at the end of the runway in New Berlin, Pa., he elected to conduct a precautionary landing in a field.
He stated that the airplane’s rate of descent was “high,” and that the nose landing gear collapsed upon touchdown. The plane subsequently nosed over and came to rest inverted.
Post accident examination revealed substantial damage to the engine firewall, both wings, and the vertical stabilizer. Examination of the rudder controls revealed no anomalies.
According to the pilot, his passenger was “apprehensive” about the flight, and inadvertently applied pressure to the left rudder pedal with his foot throughout the takeoff and accident sequence.
The NTSB determined the probable cause as the passenger’s inadvertent interference with the rudder controls during the takeoff.
NTSB Identification: ERA14CA385
This August 2014 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.
That’s why I removed all the controls from the back seat of my RV-4, for that same reason. After I completed my build I had a similar incident. I couldn’t wait to get the airplane down and in to the hanger, where I immediately removed all the controls from the rear seat, viola, no more problems with passengers..
The same thing happened to me as a very new pilot back in the late 70’s. The passenger requested that I do a stall because he had heard of them, but never experienced the maneuver. After the aircraft broke,
the left wing started dropping off. I was pushing right rudder as hard as I could with no results. It suddenly popped into my mind to ask my passenger if he had his left foot on the rudder. He said, “Oh, excuse me”, removed his foot, the airplane straightened out and all was well.
One of those times for which I have no explanation other than someone was watching out for me.
Hi Marian: I just hope in your “real world example”, this fellow wasn’t a size 14EEE! I guess in this case – “size (small) matters”; how about a 4A?
For a passenger who believes him/herself to be in unsafe situation, this is a classic self-fulfilling prophecy.
A pilot is required to give a preflight/pre-takeoff briefing to passengers whether it is the passengers first flight or one of many.
Some airplanes have only one set of flight controls or like the Beech Bonanza, the rudder pedals fold to the floor, disconnected from the rudder.
The pilot should instruct a passenger to not touch the controls, further to place their feet flat on the floor and keep their hands off the controls, perhaps folded in prayer if that makes them feel more comfortable.
It should be explained to a passenger that the pilot’s pre-takeoff checklist verifies that all the controls work and is essential to a safe flight. The passenger can cause a crash.
Any passenger too afraid to follow the instruction should be left on teh ground or placed in a seat without and controls and firmly belted in place.
Can’t agree more with you! However, I’ve learned from experience that sometimes a thorough pre-flight passenger brief does not inoculate nervous passengers and some kids from interfering with the controls. One set of suggestions made a few years ago by a veteran Young Eagles pilot in a letter to the editor for EAA’s Sport Pilot described a similar experience to this unfortunate RV pilot. Since his incident, the letter writing pilot said he that, in addition to a thorough passenger brief that addresses control etiquette and other items, he requires that his front seat passengers to (a) sit on their hands; (b) keep their feet flat on the floor and visible; and (c) for the very nervous – push their seat back as far as possible.
Yet another of the million aeronautical uses for duct tape 🙂
If a passenger interferes with the flight controls for whatever reason, I have a very simple fix for that. Knock the living daylights out of him/her if they don’t respond to a command to “get off the ***** controls NOW!”