N801GJesse Saint/Troy Townsend/Etha CH-801 · 2013

The pilot of an experimental amateur-built airplane reported that during the landing flare he encountered a wind shift and gust that resulted in a direct crosswind. The pilot further reported that he applied additional rudder to compensate for the wind shift, but the airspeed decayed and the airplane bounced hard on the grass runway. After the bounce, the pilot reported that he continued to apply left rudder to compensate for the wind, but the airplane would not respond. Subsequently, the airplane touched down in a crab configuration, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane nosed over.

The vertical stabilizer, firewall, and right wing sustained substantial damage.

During a postaccident examination, the pilot reported that the nose landing gear "support bungee" had failed and the nose landing gear strut jammed upward during the hard landing. He further reported that oil residue was found on the inner strands of the bungee. The pilot reported that this bungee had been in service for 21 months with 195 hours and about 400 landings on the part.

According to the airplane kit manufacturer, the rudder should still be controllable, even with a failed bungee. However, the manufacturer further reported that if the nose landing gear strut were to become stuck or lodged into place due to a hard landing, the rudder would also become stuck and uncontrollable. The airplane kit manufacturer does not publish service life limitations for bungees.

Because the pilot reported not having rudder authority after the first touchdown, it is likely that the nose landing gear support bungee failed during the first hard touchdown, which resulted in the nose landing gear becoming jammed upward at the upper strut limit resulting in the loss of rudder authority.