C182 pilot reports momentary loss of control when a parachute instructor and his tandem student exit...

Attributes
ACN	1088606
Time
Date	201305
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Operating Under FAR Part	Other 105
Flight Phase	Cruise
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 60 Flight Crew Total 1206 Flight Crew Type 3
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control

Narrative:

[It took us 16 minutes to] climb to 8;500 feet MSL with 10 degrees of flaps for a tandem skydive. From a level attitude at 80 knots the parachute instructor checked his equipment and exited the aircraft. Immediately following his exit the aircraft went into a nose high attitude then settled into a nose low descending turn to the right. I asked another instructor onboard what happened to which his reply was your tail is messed up. I declared an emergency with approach and started heading for the airport approximately 8 miles away. I landed the aircraft in a flat attitude and taxied to the ramp area to shutdown the engine. After speaking with the first instructor that exited the aircraft we believe the drogue chute was caught on and damaged the horizontal stabilizer after being deployed early because of it being trapped beneath the flap lever. My personal experience will lead me to not use 10 degrees of flaps throughout the climb but retract them after takeoff at a safe altitude.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C182 pilot reports momentary loss of control when a parachute instructor and his tandem student exit the aircraft; apparently due to the drogue chute catching on the horizontal stabilizer.

Narrative: [It took us 16 minutes to] climb to 8;500 feet MSL with 10 degrees of flaps for a tandem skydive. From a level attitude at 80 knots the parachute instructor checked his equipment and exited the aircraft. Immediately following his exit the aircraft went into a nose high attitude then settled into a nose low descending turn to the right. I asked another instructor onboard what happened to which his reply was your tail is messed up. I declared an emergency with Approach and started heading for the Airport approximately 8 miles away. I landed the aircraft in a flat attitude and taxied to the ramp area to shutdown the engine. After speaking with the first instructor that exited the aircraft we believe the drogue chute was caught on and damaged the horizontal stabilizer after being deployed early because of it being trapped beneath the flap lever. My personal experience will lead me to not use 10 degrees of flaps throughout the climb but retract them after takeoff at a safe altitude.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.