Dale "Snort" Snodgrass was a real-life Top Gun naval aviator, flying F-14s from carriers. [Courtesy: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum]
Key Takeaways:
The NTSB determined airshow legend Dale "Snort" Snodgrass's fatal crash was caused by a flight control lock remaining engaged during takeoff.
The installed lock immobilized the aircraft's aileron and elevator controls, preventing Snodgrass from lowering the nose after an aggressive pitch-up, which led to a stall-spin.
The NTSB concluded that a pre-takeoff functional check of the controls would have detected the lock and prevented the accident, noting the lock's design made it difficult to see and allowed the aircraft to taxi.
The failure to remove a control lock is blamed for the crash that killed airshow legend Dale “Snort” Snodgrass in Idaho last year.
“Had the pilot completed a functional check of the controls before initiating takeoff, the presence of the lock would have been detected and the accident would have been prevented.”
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
