ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 41124
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| Date: | Sunday 20 July 1997 |
| Time: | 07:28 LT |
| Type: | Eichman AEROBAT III |
| Owner/operator: | Ellis V. Eichman |
| Registration: | N17638 |
| MSN: | 1003 |
| Engine model: | Hirth F-23 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Brownsville, TX -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | (KBRO) |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot/builder/designer was attempting to fly the airplane on its maiden test flight. During the takeoff roll, the pilot lifted the airplane's nose wheel off the runway two or three times, then the airplane lifted off the runway and climbed to an altitude approximately one half of the airplane's wingspan. The airplane immediately returned to the runway in a porpoise like motion and lifted off a second time with a hard right roll. The airplane then impacted the runway in an inverted position. Postaccident examination revealed the rudder exhibited crushed areas at the bottom and top. The top crushed area matched dimensionally to the four-belt driven wheel which turned the airplane's propeller. A test pilot reported that during previous high speed taxi runs, conducted in August 1987, he had to apply 'stop-to-stop' elevator stick movements to maintain a steady pitch attitude. A review of the video tape of the taxi tests revealed that the elevator was moving in what appeared to be 'stop-to-stop' movements. The same elevator movements were observed in a video tape of the accident airplane during the attempted takeoff. The test pilot said he believed the airplane 'had some kind of pitch oscillation problem.'
Probable Cause: inadequate design by the pilot/builder/designer. Related factors were: the porpoise that was encountered by the pilot during the takeoff, and the subsequent jammed rudder.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB FTW97LA275
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Oct-2008 10:30 | ASN archive | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:23 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 08-Apr-2024 14:06 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report] |
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