Amateur-built JA30 SUPERSTOL accident near Tennille, Georgia, June 8, 2024

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The pilot reported that he departed his home airport to maneuver in the local area. The maneuvering was uneventful and after about 10 to 15 minutes he began navigating back to the airport. While in level flight, approaching the airport’s traffic pattern area, about 2,500 ft mean sea level, he observed that the airplane’s “nose starts drifting down” to about 45° pitch down. He moved the control stick and there was “nothing” for elevator control and he processed that “elevator control authority was lost” as it felt like the control stick had become disconnected. The roll/ aileron control authority continued to function. He reported that he reduced power, tightened his seatbelt, and the airplane’s pitch continued to decrease, but as airspeed increased, the airplane’s pitch attitude “increased somewhat” to about 30° pitch down. The airplane continued to descend towards terrain. Shortly before impact, he reported that he maneuvered to the right to avoid a house and subsequently impacted a tree and terrain. The fuselage and wings sustained substantial damage. Postaccident inspection of the airplane found that the connection point between the elevator push rod and the control stick mixer was missing all of its hardware, which normally would be secured with a locknut (the missing hardware was not recovered). Reference Figure 1 for a view of the accident airplane as found compared to an exemplar parts and hardware. Figure 1: View of the elevator connecting rod attachment areas, exemplar and accident airplane (Photo Courtesy of FAA & Just Aircraft) The pilot reported that he performed the most recent condition inspection of the airplane 2 months before the accident. He reported that the elevator system and its hardware were not removed during the most recent inspection. The pilot was unable to produce the maintenance records despite repeated requests, nor did he hold a repairman certificate. The pilot, who was the builder of the airplane, reported that it had accumulated 130 hours of total flight time.

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.

Photographs from the investigation 4 pictures from the NTSB's docket, as the NTSB released them

Photo 1: View of the accident airplane at the accident sitePhoto 2: View of the elevator connecting rod attachment area missing its hardwarePhoto 3: View of the elevator connecting rod attachment areas, exemplar and accident airplanePhoto 4: Additional views of the accident airplane missing its elevator connecting rod hardware (screw and locknut)

The NTSB's photographs with the NTSB's captions, at screen size. Open a picture to see it full size or to report one that should not be shown.