Lordstown, OH, USA
N160JR
RHINEHART Stolp SDTR TOO SA300
October 23, 2022, at 1412 eastern daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Stolp SDTR Too SA300, N160JR, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Lordstown, Ohio. The private pilot and passenger were seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. In an interview with law enforcement after the accident, the pilot, who was also the owner and builder of the two-place biplane, explained he had just departed his home airstrip with his son in the front seat when he detected a “problem.” The airplane was about 50 ft into the initial climb when he felt and then, “saw the elevator shaking on the tail.” The pilot stated that he attempted to return to the runway, but “lost all control and [the plane] went down.” A witness located across the street from the airstrip said that the airplane departed to the south and “circled around,” heading north when he heard the engine “start to cut out.” The airplane then “banked left and nose-dived into [the] pasture.” When interviewed, the pilot’s son stated that at takeoff “something seemed off” and his father announced there was “something wrong with the elevator.” He said, “He tried to turn it back, but our airspeed was so low [the plane] just started falling.” Another witness was standing on the pilot’s property and made a video recording of the flight. The sound of the engine was smooth and continuous through the takeoff roll, the initial climb, and the crosswind and downwind legs of the left traffic pattern. The airplane appeared to use nearly the full length of the grass strip and climbed at a shallow angle. At liftoff, the airplane’s elevator and elevator trim surfaces fluttered. The airplane flew the downwind leg at a constant altitude but appeared low based on its position relative to trees and structures in the foreground. At a point consistent with the base leg of the traffic pattern, the airplane decelerated and entered a left turn. The airplane banked steeply, the nose pitched downward, and the angle of descent steepened. The airplane appeared to shallow its descent before it disappeared behind trees and the sounds of impact were heard. The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. The pilot completed the requirements for operation under BasicMed on March 23, 2022. He reported 1,100 total hours of flight experience on that date. According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, the airplane was manufactured in 1996. The wreckage was examined and photographed at the accident site by an FAA aviation safety inspector. The tube-and-fabric airplane was consumed by postcrash fire. The tail section appeared structurally intact but was thermally damaged. The horizontal stabilizer, elevator, and rudder retained their fabric covering. Flight control continuity was confirmed from the cockpit to the flight control surfaces. The elevator trim tab cable was intact, but free from its attachment hardware on the trim tab cable mount. Score marks on the underside of the elevator trim tab were of the same dimension and aligned with the disconnected cable end. The trim tab cable, its mount, and attachment hardware were retained for further examination.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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