Yak-52 FOD Accidents Are a Warning to All



EAA Founder and Chairman Paul Poberezny recently received a letter from National Transportation Safety Board Senior Air Safety Inspector Arnold W. Scott telling about a spate of accidents around the world where foreign object damage (FOD) has impaired or jammed the controls of the Yak-52. The design is prone to this problem because the fuselage is open behind the rear seat and the elevator control mechanism is close to the fuselage "floor." Many of the accidents have involved fatalities, and aerobatics didn't seem to play a part in control jamming caused by everything from an errant nut to an airsick bag and a set of locking pliers. Scott urges Yak-52 owners to install some form of barrier to protect the elevator bell crank from FOD jamming or to install Plexiglas skin panels so they can inspect the mechanism before flight. Paul said the Yak should stand as an example for all pilots and aircraft owners regardless of what they fly, because no aircraft is immune to the controls being jammed by FOD.

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