Vans RV-12 | N412JN

The DTSB determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be a failure of one or more primary flight controls in flight, in that left control stick pushrod (F1264-1) was found to be not connected to the inboard eyebolt bearing (CM-4MS) at the flaperon mixer bellcrank. The positioning was such that it had previously maintained a proper connection, but was not secure. The control stick push rod separated from the eyebolt bearing in flight, causing an uncontrolled left descending turn, for which the pilot could not correct in flight. The pilot did declare an emergency on the Unicom frequency stating “I just had a control failure.”

Probable Cause issued 11/13/2025 – 18 months after the accident: The pilot’s improper installation of the control stick pushrod assemblies, which resulted in separation of the left pushrod and a total loss of roll control during flight. Contributing to the accident was the failure to detect the installation error during the airplane’s construction, inspection, and subsequent maintenance.

The DTSB recommends that all pilots of all aircraft perform proper and periodic inspections of all critical flight control cables and rigging, especially for homebuilt and experimental aircraft that may not have been properly assembled and inspected, or that have hardware that could possibly work its way loose after a period of operation. The DTSB recommends castellated nuts and safety pins on all critical flight control hardware.