Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during takeoff from a dirt road.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot had landed on a dirt road during a cross-country flight because both his passengers had become airsick. During the ensuing takeoff, the aircraft drifted to the side of the road, and the wing sustained damage when it impacted terrain and rocks. The pilot continued the takeoff, but because of the damage and his suspicion that the rudder was not functioning properly, he decided to land again on a highway. During this landing, the pilot was unable to maintain directional control, and the airplane struck a mile marker and a ditch. No evidence of a rudder control system malfunction or other malfunction was found.
Source record
Factual narrative
On August 29, 1995, approximately 0900 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140, N9675W, collided with the terrain during an emergency landing attempted after the airplane sustained damage in an off-airport takeoff from a road near Arock, Oregon. The private pilot and his two passengers were not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The personal pleasure flight, which took off from a dirt road less than five minutes before the accident, had originally been en route from Caldwell, Idaho, to Marysville, California. The aircraft was being operated in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident, and the flight was on a VFR flight plan. The ELT activated, but did not assist in locating the wreckage. According to the pilot, he landed on a dirt road near Arock because both of his passengers had become airsick. During the ensuing takeoff, the aircraft drifted to the side of the road just as it became airborne. During this sequence, the aircraft's wing impacted the terrain and sustained damage. The pilot continued the takeoff, but because of the damage sustained on takeoff and his suspicion that the rudder was not functioning properly, he decided to land on a nearby highway. During this landing, the pilot was unable to maintain directional control after touchdown, and the airplane struck a mile marker and sustained additional damage. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, including separation of the left main landing gear, when it impacted a ditch alongside the highway. The pilot believed that he had insufficient rudder control authority available to him during his takeoff from the dirt road. FAA inspectors found no mechanical discrepancies in the rudder control system of the aircraft. -