Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sedona Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sedona, Arizona 86336
Thursday, September 25, 2014 8:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot/builder of the experimental amateur-built, tailwheel-equipped airplane had just completed a flight as part of phase one flight testing. He reported an uneventful approach to landing, with the main landing gear touching down first. However, as soon as the tailwheel made contact with the runway, the airplane yawed violently to the right. The pilot applied full left rudder and brake control input, but the airplane did not respond, and departed the runway descending down an embankment. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the upper wing spar and fuselage structure at the landing gear attach points.
Postaccident examination revealed that the tailwheel was locked 90 degrees to the right. The tailwheel assembly was disassembled, and the steering arm cam spring appeared jammed between the shaft and housing. The inner surface of the housing exhibited scoring marks, consistent with a pre-existing failure of the spring. The pilot reported that he had purchased the tailwheel assembly used, and that he did not have any records indicating its manufacturer or serial number.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the tailwheel steering assembly during maneuvering flight, which resulted in a loss of directional control during the landing roll.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/25/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 830 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Sedona |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86336 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345055N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114718W |
| Event Location Airport | SEDONA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SEZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 73 |
| Airport Elevation | 4830 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1535 Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSEZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4830 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | UTC |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.23 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KSEZ 251535Z AUTO 08003KT 10SM CLR 24/09 A30 |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 33442 |
| NTSB Notification Source | LAX ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2014 3:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | eckd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N93DB |
| NTSB Number | WPR14CA390 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | WILLIAM M OPRENDEK |
| Aircraft Model | PITTS S1S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | PITTS S1SS-3 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1139 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 3 2014 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 53.1 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | OPRENDEK WILLIAM M |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SEDONA |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 863363052 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | OPRENDEK WILLIAM M |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SEDONA |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 863363052 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SEZ |
| Departure City | Sedona |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | SEZ |
| Destination City | Sedona |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2014 3:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | eckd |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 5132 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |