NTSB Factual Report

On May 12, 2015, at 0740 eastern daylight time, a Taylorcraft BC-12D, N43715, was substantially damaged while attempting to land at Inverness Airport (INF), Inverness, Florida. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local, personal flight, which was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

The pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane before departing on the local flight with the intent of practicing touch-and-go landings. The first two landings were uneventful. The pilot landed the airplane in a "three point full stall" attitude during the third landing. During the landing roll, and just before the pilot intended to increase engine power to take off, he felt a vibration originating from the tailwheel that was increasing rapidly in intensity. The airplane then suddenly veered to the left. The pilot attempted to compensate by applying full rudder to the right, but the airplane continued left, departed the runway, and struck a taxiway sign. The airplane subsequently pitched forward and the nose struck the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors examined the airplane following the accident and noted the tailwheel steering linkage was disconnected from the rudder arm. One of the two springs attaching the tailwheel and the rudder arm remained attached to the tailwheel, while the other spring was not attached, and had been recovered by the pilot from the accident site. The associated hardware used to attach the spring to the rudder arm was not recovered.