Aviation Law Monitor : Aviation Lawyer & Attorney : Michael Danko Law Firm : California Airplane & Helicopter Crashes : Aviation Law Monitor

That's what some press reports are saying.  Had Jimmy Leeward not maneuvered the stricken plane as he did, things could have been much worse.

"The way I see it, if he did do something about this, he saved hundreds if not thousands of lives because he was able to veer that plane back toward the tarmac,” Johnny Norman, who was at the show, told the Associated Press.

That's a nice thought.  But it's probably not true.  Leeward likely was unconscious for most of the accident sequence, unable to veer the aircraft anywhere.

This isn't the first time a P-51 lost its trim tab at the Reno Air Races.  It happened once in 1998, when flutter ripped a trim tab from a P-51 called "Voodoo." Bob Hannah, the pilot, immediately found himself heading straight up, just as Jimmy Leeward did.  Hannah lost consciousness from the high g-loading, regained his senses as the aircraft rolled over the top, and saved the aircraft.  

As reported by AvWeb,

You OK Bob?" called Hinton. "Yea, this thing just popped big time," replied Hannah. What Hannah didn't mention is that the g-load from the quick pull-up had caused him to black out. He finally managed to reach the throttle and reduced Voodoo's power. At that point Hannah radioed that he "(wasn't) out of it yet," but he wasn't thinking clearly. Later, he declared a mayday and made a perfect landing. . . . On the ground one could see what cause Voodoo's problems during the race. The left elevator torque tube failed when the elevator trim fluttered and departed the plane.

It's quite possible that Leeward blacked out just like Hannah did in 1998 but, unlike Hannah, never regained consciousness. 

Take a look at the two pictures of Leeward's aircraft, the "Galloping Ghost."  The photo on the left is the cockpit before takeoff.  Leeward's helmet is clearly visible.  The frame on the right is the cockpit during the dive, a second before impact.  Leeward is nowhere to be seen.  Perhaps he is slumped over, unconscious.  Regardless, it's hard to imagine that Leeward was in any position to control the aircraft's flight path.

Related content on this blog:

• Reno-Stead Airport Seeks to Influence NTSB Investigation
• Reno Air Race Lawsuits and the Assumption of Risk Defense
• Lawsuits Against the FAA Will Face Hurdles
• Reno Disaster No Freak Accident
• Leeward's Aircraft Lost Trim Tab

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This photo, taken moments before the crash, shows that the P-51 had lost its left elevator trim tab. (I've circled the spot where the trim tab should be.) Without the trim tab, the aircraft may have been uncontrollable.

(Original Photo by Tim O'Brien, Grass Valley Union (AP).)

Why did the aircraft lose its trim tab?  One possibility is "flutter," an aerodynamic phenomenon that can, once it starts, damage a control surface quite suddenly.  Here's a NASA video of flutter in action.

An aircraft is at risk of flutter when its airspeed pushes up against or exceeds its design limits.

Related content on this blog: 

• Reno-Stead Airport Seeks to Influence NTSB Investigation
• Reno Air Race Lawsuits and the Assumption of Risk Defense
• Lawsuits Against the FAA Will Face Hurdles
• Leeward A Hero?
• Reno Disaster No Freak Accident

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This past April, the NTSB called upon the FAA to ground the entire fleet of Zodiac aircraft because their wings tend to fall off in mid-flight.  As it turns out, a defect in the Zodiac's design induces an aerodynamic phenomenon known as flutter.  Flutter can destroy a wing or other control surface in a matter of seconds.  This well-known, dangerous, but rare condition is shown occurring in the tail surfaces of other aircraft types here and here. 

When the NTSB's issued its "urgent recommendation," a total of ten people had already been killed in Zodiacs due to flutter-induced failures.  Back then, the NTSB was under heavy fire for sitting on a long list of NTSB recommendations pertaining to a number of different aviation industry sectors while lives were being lost. Because of that, I figured that this was one recommendation the FAA would act on, and fast.

The FAA will see Zodiac's manufacturer as an easy target and move against it -- if for no other reason than to quiet its critics.

I was wrong.  The FAA refused to ground the aircraft.  Even I was surprised.

Of course, it was just a matter of time.  On November 6, another Zodiac crashed in Arkansas.   It looks like another flutter-induced failure.  That brings the death toll to 11.  On November 13, the NTSB issued an official "I told you so."

The Safety Board's urgent recommendation to the FAA was to "prohibit further flight of the Zodiac CH-601XL, both special light sport aircraft and experimental, until such time that the FAA determines that the CH-601XL has adequate protection from flutter." The FAA replied in July that they lacked "adequate justification to take immediate certificate action to ground the entire fleet." 

The NTSB's unstated question:  Just how many deaths are required before the FAA finds "adequate justification" to act?

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The families of the victims of the Zodiac crash near Oakdale, California, have filed suit against the aircraft's maker, Zenith Aircraft, alleging that the Zodiac's design is defective. The Zodiac is the two-seat aircraft whose wings tend to break off in flight due to a design-induced aerodynamic phenomenon known as flutter.  That appears to be exactly what happened in the Oakdale crash. The design has caused at least 10 deaths so far. 

According to the Modesto Bee, Zenith Aircraft is blaming the pilot and passenger for getting into the airplane it designed.

 Zenith Aircraft said the crash was caused by the "negligence" of [the pilot and his passenger]. The company said both had "full appreciation" of the risks involved.

As discussed here, months ago the NTSB called upon the FAA to ground all Zodiacs. The FAA, however, has yet to do so.  Unfortunately, the NTSB has no power to ground an aircraft on its own.  It doesn't matter how bad the design of the aircraft is; only the FAA can ground a fleet. 

The FAA refuses to act, and Zenith Aircraft won't accept responsibility for the fatal flaws in its aircraft's design.  Lawsuits brought by aviation accident lawyers like the families' lawyers in this case seem to be the only way to prevent others from being killed in the Zodiac. 

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Today the NTSB issued an "urgent" safety recommendation, asking the FAA to immediately ground all Zodiac CH-601XL aircraft.  The reason:  their wings tend to fall off.  So far, six have broken up in flight, causing 10 fatalities.  The NTSB suspects that the design of the aircraft induces "flutter"-- an aerodynamic phenomenon that can destroy an aircraft in seconds.  This short NASA video depicts flutter nearly destroying the tail on a Piper Twin Comanche.

Will the FAA act on this recommendation or, like it has with regard to so many other NTSB recommendations, simply ignore it?  I'm betting that this is one the FAA will act on.  As I've noted before, the FAA has been under increasing fire for sitting on NTSB recommendations while lives are lost. The FAA will see Zodiac's manufacturer as an easy target and move against it -- if for no other reason than to quiet its critics.

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