ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 210267
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| Date: | Monday 30 April 2018 |
| Time: | 17:33 |
| Type: |  Cessna 172M Skyhawk II |
| Owner/operator: | Southern Aircraft Consultancy Inc Trustee |
| Registration: | N9085H |
| MSN: | 17265932 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1975 |
| Engine model: | Technify Motors TAE 125-02-114 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | L.F. Wade Int Airport, St. David's Island -
 Bermuda
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | Bermuda-L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA/TXKF) |
| Bermuda-L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA/TXKF) | |
| Investigating agency: | AAIB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The flight was planned to consist of a number of circuits and landings to refamiliarise the pilot with the aircraft. The pilot had not flown for several months while the aircraft had undergone a prolonged maintenance input. As this was the aircraft’s first flight after maintenance, the pilot fully checked the flying controls and their range of movement during the pre-flight checks. On completion of the in-cockpit pre-flight checks, the pilot confirmed that the elevator trim was set to the correct position for takeoff by checking that the trim indicator was in the takeoff position.
The initial stage of the takeoff appeared normal but as the aircraft passed through 200 ft the pilot noted that the rate of climb appeared lower than expected. After reaching 1,000 ft, the pilot levelled the aircraft and reduced the engine power to maintain circuit height but found that the aircraft tended to pitch nose down even after the application of nose up trim. The pilot increased engine power on the downwind leg of the circuit, which alleviated the tendency to pitch down and reduced the control forces.
The pilot decided to terminate the flight and informed ATC of her intentions. After turning onto the base leg and reducing airspeed, the pilot found that the nose-down pitch forces increased despite applying more nose up trim. In an attempt to stabilise the aircraft, the pilot applied more engine power which reduced the forces but increased the aircraft’s ground speed. During the final approach, the pitch-down tendency increased to the point where the pilot was unable to maintain the glidepath. The aircraft struck the ground approximately 15 metres from the runway threshold and continued along the ground before coming to a halt on the paved surface. The aircraft suffered significant damage and the pilot, who had suffered minor injuries, was assisted from the aircraft by the AFRS.
The investigation confirmed that the elevator trim system had been rigged incorrectly, resulting in movement of the elevator trim tab in the opposite sense to the pilot’s control inputs. The cables and drive chain which operated the trim tab actuator were rotated by 180° from their normal position within the horizontal stabiliser, reversing the movement of the trim tab. The presence of the elevator trim tab actuator chain guard, and the fact that the drive chain was still engaged on the actuator drive sprocket, confirmed that the actuator drive system had been assembled incorrectly during the maintenance input prior to the accident flight
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
http://www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20180430/airport-reopens-after-plane-crash-injures-pilot
http://bernews.com/2018/04/llive-video-cessna-plane-incident-at-airport/
http://bernews.com/2018/04/photos-cessna-plane-incident-airport/
http://aerossurance.com/safety-management/faa-c172-misrigged-controls-hf/
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c8a6a3ded915d5c0f7973cb/Cessna_172M_Skyhawk_II_N9085H_04-19.pdf
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=9085H
Images:
Photo: AAIB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-May-2018 07:52 | harro | Added |
| 01-May-2018 15:43 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Source, Embed code] |
| 01-May-2018 21:35 | Geno | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 11-Apr-2019 15:08 | harro | Updated [Aircraft type, Embed code, Narrative, Photo, Accident report, ] |
| 19-Apr-2019 17:33 | Aerossurance | Updated [Source] |
| 14-May-2022 04:08 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
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