M-Squared Aircraft BREESE 2 accident near Bayou La Batre, Alabama, January 19, 2012
On January 19, 2012 at about 10:30 pm local time, a M-Squared Aircraft BREESE 2, registered N582MS, was substantially damaged in an accident during initial climb near Bayou La Batre, Alabama (Roy E. Ray airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's inability to maintain control of the airplane for reasons that could not be determined because postaccident examination of the rudder control system did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded control of the airplane.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 19, 2012 · about 10:30 pm local time
- Place
- Bayou La Batre, Alabama · Roy E. Ray · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- M-Squared Aircraft BREESE 2 · all BREESE 2s on the register
- Registration
- N582MS · registry record · serial 000721
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot and a flight instructor completed three landings without incident. The flight instructor then exited the airplane, and the student pilot performed a full-stop landing without incident. During the subsequent climb after takeoff, the airplane yawed to the right, nearly 90 degrees from the departure runway heading. The student pilot noted that he was unable to depress the left rudder pedal more than 1 or 2 inches and that the right rudder pedal moved without resistance. He also noticed that the elevator control felt "loose and sloppy." The student pilot determined that he did not have enough controllability to safely land the airplane and subsequently chose to maneuver over a field and deploy the airplane's ballistic recovery parachute system. The forward portion of the fuselage was substantially damaged upon ground contact. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the tail skid/rudder control tube was fractured. The rudder pedals were displaced during the impact with the ground; however, all connections remained intact. No other discrepancies of the flight control system were observed. Metallurgical examination of the fractured tube revealed that it failed due to bending overstress. Although it is possible that contacting the tail skid on the runway at a high-pitch attitude could produce similar loading, it is more likely that the inertial loads on the tail structure during the impact were responsible for the fracture. The airplane had been operated for 575 total hours since new and 75 hours since its most recent condition inspection, which was performed about 4 months before the accident.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Flight control sys malf/fail during initial climb defining event
- Collision with terrain or object (not controlled flight into terrain) during emergency descent
- Unknown or undetermined during unknown
The NTSB's findings
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems › Flight control system › Rudder control system › Not specified
- Personnel issues › Task performance › Use of equip/info › Aircraft control › Student pilot
- cause Not determined › Not determined › (general) › (general) › Unknown/Not determined
Dual student
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 14 hours in all; 13 in this make and model; 0 in the last 90 days; 14 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Sport Pilot
- Seat: frt
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 575 hours
- Last inspection: condition inspection, September 30, 2011; 75 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,320 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Rotax 582UL-99 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: M Squared Aircraft
The flight
- Departed from: 5R7 Bayou La Batre AL
- Destination: 5R7 Bayou La Batre AL
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 160° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: a few clouds at 2,400 ft
- Temperature: 61°F (16°C), dew point 54°F (12°C)
- Altimeter: 30.06 inHg
- Observation at 10:53 pm from BFM, 13 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ERA12LA150.