Small Plane Crashes Because Of Locked Rudder

Heat84

There was a small plane crash a couple weeks ago in Boca Raton, Florida. Apparently it happened because the pilot left a pin or a lock in a rudder. Why does a rudder need to be locked when a plane is on the ground? Is it possible they could’ve landed the plane? Apparently they crashed while trying to burn fuel before making an emergency landing.

broknsymetry

Gust lock

A gust lock on an aircraft is a mechanism that locks control surfaces and keeps open aircraft doors in place while the aircraft is parked on the ground and non-operational. Gust locks prevent wind from causing unexpected movements of the control surfaces and their linked controls inside the aircraft, as well as aircraft doors on some aircraft; otherwise, wind gusts could cause possible damage to the control surfaces and systems, or to nearby people, cargo, or machinery. Some gust locks are external devices attached directly to the aircraft’s control surfaces, while others are attached to the relevant flight controls inside the cockpit.

A gust lock can pose a serious safety hazard if it is not disengaged before an aircraft’s takeoff, because it renders the flight control inoperative. Many internal gust locks have a safety feature that locks out the aircraft’s throttle or engine-start controls until removed and stowed. External-only gust locks typically lack this safety feature, and must be tagged with a large red remove before flight streamer.

Dick

I guess the pilot skipped a few items on the pre-flight checklist…

Astyanax

As similarly mentioned, if you don’t lock the control surfaces the cables can wear out from being pulled back and forth repeatedly from the surfaces being blown up and down or side to side.

There was an Air Disasters episode about the tragic results of not taking these precautions on the ground.

FF to around 37:00 in the video. I think you’ll have to actually go to YouTube to watch it though.

real_aurgathor

Dick I guess the pilot skipped a few items on the pre-flight checklist…

Based on the description, we can only be sure about one item.

But that became a lifelong lesson for the pilot that he’ll never forget.

Somewhat-Reticent

real_aurgathor Unless the pilot was one of the 3 who died.

real_aurgathor

Somewhat-Reticent Unless the pilot was one of the 3 who died.

Well, as per “killing all three onboard”, the pilot was one of the dead.

Somewhat-Reticent

real_aurgathor “resignation saying he just didn’t know what to do to fix it.”
suggests he may have had insufficient time to learn the lesson. Fear distracts.

Heat84

real_aurgathor

The one that survived wasn’t in the plane. It was the driver of a car that was in the wrong place at right time.

Heat84

real_aurgathor Based on the description, we can only be sure about one item.

Isn’t one of the items in the checklist making sure the rudder works? So they forgot at least 2 items.

Heat84

Here’s more information about the incident. The plane pushed the car onto nearby train tracks and people on the overpass above the crash were in a hurry to get off of it because they thought it might collapse.

Somewhat-Reticent

Good find - article adds info (further effects). What a mess.

Heat84

Can small planes not dump fuel like airliners can? Is that why they tried to burn the fuel instead of dumping it? I’m confused about something. Were they flying in circles just to burn the fuel or because of the rudder lock.

Not to armchair QB the pilot, but could they possibly have made it to the ocean and landed there(In the ocean)? It’s only a few miles away(literally 3 miles). What about crash landing in trees? Palm Beach County has more trees than buildings, so there’s plenty of wooded areas nearby. Just trying to think outside the box.

I believe they were headed to Tallahassee, which is ~400 miles away. It would’ve taken at least a hour to burn all that fuel, so I don’t think that was a good strategy since they had problems controlling the plane. I think I would’ve taken my chances and landed with fuel in the tank or went with one of my OTB suggestions. Did one of the articles say how long they were burning fuel before the crash?

real_aurgathor

Heat84 Isn’t one of the items in the checklist making sure the rudder works? So they forgot at least 2 items.

Good point – I stand corrected.

real_aurgathor

Heat84

Small planes cannot dump fuels, so that’s one of the reason they were flying in loops. The other is that the rudder forced them to do so.

I was wondering about landing on water, too – not sure why the pilot didn’t try that. Sometimes when under pressure, people may miss possible escape routes.

Since they flew quite a few loops successfully, methinks the pilot should’ve been able to continue that until it was out of fuel.

Blackbird

The pilot had 40 years of aviation experience and, after taking off and discovering the rudder problem, had just completed 9 large left-hand loops that appeared to end with him lining up for the airport runway (whether or not it was his intention to try landing). It seems he just ran out of altitude… https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/boca/2025/04/21/boca-plane-crash-aviation-expert-rudder-issues-may-have-caused-crash/83087003007/

real_aurgathor

Among other things, 40 years of experience means:
a) he probably had quite a bit of experience
b) he was probably over 60, which is the time when many people start to become a bit ‘forgetful’

px_eliezer_

I’m not an airplane person, so I had never heard of this.

But having heard of this now, I am surprised that it does not happen more often!

Heat84

real_aurgathor I was wondering about landing on water, too – not sure why the pilot didn’t try that. Sometimes when under pressure, people may miss possible escape routes.

I guess he was dead set(as it were) on landing at the airport. But he easily saw the ocean from the area where the plane crashed, which is actually 4 miles away, not 3.

Maybe his plan was going perfectly until it wasn’t. Since he had 40 years of experience, it was probably a good plan. Or maybe it wasn’t a plan at all, just the prescribed emergency procedure for the situation, which maybe was not a good idea with the control problems he was having. One of the articles said the whole flight only lasted 10 minutes.