N68117Boeing A75N1(PT17)

The pilot of the tail-wheel equipped Fairchild airplane reported that after landing on the 2,400-foot long by 100-foot wide private grass runway, he pulled off to the right of the runway about 2/3 of the way down with his engine at idle power to watch a Stearman airplane, which he had been flying in tandem with, land. The Fairchild pilot further reported that the Stearman appeared to be approaching a little fast, touched down about 1/2 way down the runway, and started drifting to the right, toward the stopped Fairchild.

The pilot of the tail-wheel equipped Stearman biplane reported that during the landing roll he was looking out of the left side of the Stearman, misjudged the width of the grass runway, and "clipped [the Fairchild] on [the] edge of runway". The Stearman then impacted a tree, resulting in substantial damage to the lower left wing and both right wings.

The Fairchild sustained substantial damage to the engine cowl and firewall.

The Fairchild pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The Stearman pilot reported that it was possible that the tailwheel bracket was broken prior to the airplane colliding with the Fairchild and impacting trees.

In a postaccident interview with the investigator-in-charge (IIC), the Stearman pilot reported that during the initial preflight and taxi of the airplane, the tailwheel bracket "looked good" and he had no issues steering during taxi and takeoff.

While landing for the second time on the local flight, the airplane immediately veered to the right. The pilot attempted to correct the airplane's ground track by the use of rudder and brakes. After attempting to correct the ground track through the use of increased engine power, the pilot chose to bring the airplane to a stop. The airplane departed the runway, collided with a drainage ditch, and came to rest inverted. Substantial crushing damage was sustained to the airplane's upper wings. An examination of the airplane's braking system by a responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector did not reveal any anomalies. In an interview with the FAA inspector, the passenger seated in the front seat stated that he had placed his feet away from the airplane's rudder pedals and brakes and to his knowledge had not interfered with the airplane brakes.