8th of February 2023, Remove Before Flight, Blog #734
- V2Aviation
- 27 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Two years ago, to date, a Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet G2 was being prepared for a flight departing Waukesha (Wisconsin, USA) with Chattanooga (Tennessee, USA) as the destination. The flight was planned as an IFR flight. Onboard the aircraft were the pilot and a passenger.
The weather was good with VMC conditions with a light and variable wind with a visibility of 10miles.
After receiving taxi clearance, the aircraft began taxiing to the take-off runway. During the taxi, the pilot was contacted by ATC, warning him of possible FOD (Foreign Object Debris) on the runway. This was acknowledged by the pilot as he continued towards the runway. After receiving take-off clearance, the take-off was initiated. As the aircraft started to accelerate, a noise became apparent that sounded like gravel hitting the aircraft. The take-off was continued and once airborne, with a positive vertical speed, the landing gear was selected up. The noise that was heard during the take-off roll was still present. Although cleared to switch over to the Milwaukee departure frequency, the pilot informed the tower controller that he would like to return to Waukesha to determine the source of the noise that was still present.
While returning to Waukesha, the pilot turned the aircraft towards a left downwind for runway 28. It was then that the stall warning sounded, followed by the stick shaker activating. The pilot disconnected the autopilot and brought the aircraft back under control. A short base turn was flown with an indicated speed of >200 knots. After turning short final, the aircraft touched down heavily and fast, resulting in several bounces before settling on the runway and skidding off the runway. The nose landing gear failed during the runway excursion.
There were no injuries to the occupants of the aircraft. After evacuating, the pilot realised that he had failed to remove the protective cover of the AOA (Angle of Attack) sensor.
Damage to the aircraft was substantial, but limited to the nose section of the aircraft.
The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident and determined the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The pilot’s failure to maintain aircraft control during landing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection and removal of the angle of attack vane.
The Aviation Investigation Final Report as published by the NTSB, which served as the source for this blog, can be accessed by clicking on the .pdf file below;
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