| Crash location | 44.195277°N, 120.823056°W |
| Nearest city | Prineville, OR
44.299849°N, 120.834466°W 7.2 miles away |
| Tail number | N53719 |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 30 Jan 2005 |
| Aircraft type | Bellanca 7GCBC |
| Additional details: | None |
On January 30, 2005, at approximately 1400 Pacific standard time, a Bellanca 7GCBC, N53719, was substantially damaged when it ground looped/swerved during landing at Dry Creek Airpark, Prineville, Oregon. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. The pilot/owner was operating the flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local, personal flight that originated at approximately 1300. No flight plan had been filed.
The pilot said that the airplane was 12 hours out of restoration. He said that during the touchdown roll the airplane veered to the right, departed the runway and impacted some trees. Postimpact examination of the tailwheel assembly found that during its reassembly, two shims were installed backwards which had disabled the steering capability of the assembly. Additionally the master cylinder on the left brake pedal had separated, and it was determined that its safety cotter key was missing. The impact destroyed the engine cowling, bent the left gear box, and wrinkled the empennage.
The pilot reported the accident on March 7, 2005.
Other maintenance personnel's inadequate reassembly of the tail wheel assembly and the left main landing gear breaking assembly resulting in an inadvertent loss of control during the landing roll. Contributing factors were the pilot's inadvertent swerve during landing (aircraft control not possible), and the subsequent impact with rocks and trees.