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ERA24LA024

2023-10-27 · Rangeley, Maine, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 8B0

Current FAA registration · N3910M

Make / Model
PIPER PA-12
Year of manufacture
1947 · 76 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-235 SERIES (115 hp)
Seats / Engines
3 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19550801
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A488E4

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll with a crosswind, after the right tailwheel spring separated.

Factual narrative

The tailwheel equipped airplane veered to the left during the landing roll and nosed over when the pilot attempted to correct by utilizing the airplane’s brakes. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. The right tailwheel spring was found disconnected. Subsequent inspection of the right tail-wheel spring revealed tooling marks, and that the attachment loop had been closed back towards its original radius. When asked about the tooling marks on the separated spring, the pilot/owner suggested they may have occurred during a previous annual inspection or “when it fell off a few years ago when I had a bad tailwheel shimmy.” At the time of the accident, the pilot was landing the airplane on runway 32 with wind from 250° at 5 knots. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Effect on operation
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Landing gear steering system-Malfunction

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2023_ERA24LA024.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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