ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 178417
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| Date: | Sunday 13 June 2004 |
| Time: | 22:45 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-32R-301 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N8451E |
| MSN: | 32R-8113122 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1981 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2666 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-540 SER |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Baxley Municipal Airport, Baxley, Georgia -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Wauseon, OH (KUSE) |
| Baxley, GA (KBHC) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
While flying at 2300 feet, the pilot shut off the autopilot and immediately could not maintain pitch control and the airplane went into a series of uncontrollable gyrations. The pilot attempted to regain control of the airplane but was unsuccessful. The airplane collided with trees five miles west of Baxley Municipal Airport. During the post accident functional examination of the autopilot assembly disclosed that when the unit was engaged the pitch servo would only correct the pitch attitude in one direction. Internal examination of the pitch servo revealed that three transistors had been replaced and one transistor appeared original to the unit. Additionally, the functional check of the pitch trim servo solenoid revealed that the unit was not within the design specifications. According to the pilot operating handbook, if the autopilot is disengaged when opposing mistrim forces are encountered, the pilot may be required to exert control forces in excess of 50 pounds to maintain airplane attitude. The pilot will have to maintain this control force while he manually retrim the airplane.
Probable Cause: The mechanical malfunction of the autopilot pitch servo, and the pilot's inability to maintain adequate control pressure to manually retrim the pitch attitude.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20040616X00819&key=1
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 8 July 1999 | N8451E | Private | 0 | Fargo, ND | |
sub |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Aug-2015 13:28 | Noro | Added |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 07-Dec-2017 18:07 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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