On 1 July 2020, a holder of PPL (A) completed a flight from EPRU to EPBC aerodrome. The airplane uneventfully landed on a concrete runway at around 14:30 hrs. The plane was parked on the apron and the pilot left the aerodrome. Around 18:30 hrs the pilot returned to the airplane with the intention of performing a return flight to EPRU. The pilot inspected the aircraft, checked the weather conditions, and completed the predeparture checklist and started taxiing to concrete runway 28. During the taxiing at the EPBC another event occurred, resulting in blockage of the concrete runway in use. When SP-EVA pilot was informed about that fact, he decided to take off from the grass runway. After receiving take-off clearance, SP-EVA entered the grass runway 28. The pilot positioned the plane closer to the right edge of the runway, as he considered that side of the runway to have better surface, and then he began the take-off run. In the pilot’s opinion, the plane accelerated correctly, but after reaching the speed of 55 kt, it suddenly lost direction deviating to the right. The pilot reacted dynamically to the loss of direction by pressing the left pedal. As a result, the airplane turned left and then its nose part pitched down to the surface of the runway. The blades of the rotating propeller collided with the ground and were immediately destroyed.
The plane moving sideway broke the main landing gear legs, which folded to the right and the aircraft, moving on the grass, rotated, and then came to rest. The pilot turned off the power and fuel supply and left the plane unaided without injuries. The emergency services (that were present at the aerodrome) provided first aid to the SP-EVA pilot. A test confirmed that pilot was not under the influence of alcohol.
Cause of the accident: Loss of direction during take-off run.
Contributing factors:
1) Take-off operation performed from the grass runway;
2) Different quality of the grass runway surface;
3) Take-off run performed close to the right edge of the runway;
4) Too dynamic pilot’s reaction to counteract the loss of direction during take-off run, which at the speed of 55 kt resulted in creating a great force acting on
the deflected wheel of the nose landing gear. As a result, the nose landing gear strut was detached from the aircraft.
PKBWL has not proposed any safety recommendation after completion of the Investigation.
