Accident Cessna 172N N75908,
ASN logo
ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 297536
 
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information. If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.

Date:Wednesday 6 March 2002
Time:11:25 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic C172 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Cessna 172N
Owner/operator:Aerial Messages Inc.,
Registration: N75908
MSN: 17268032
Year of manufacture:1977
Total airframe hrs:7009 hours
Engine model:Lycoming O-320-H2AD
Fatalities:Fatalities: / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Bunnell, Florida -   United States of America
Phase: Unknown
Nature:Unknown
Departure airport:Bunnell, FL (X47)
Destination airport:Bunnell, FL (X47)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
Witnesses stated that the accident airplane had just dropped a banner, and was being maneuvered from base to final, to execute a landing on runway 06 when the pilot made a radio communications transmission stating that aileron control had been lost. The airplane was observed at an altitude of about 200 to 300 feet, in about a 30-degree bank to the left, and the bank angle continued to increase as the airplane descended, disappearing from sight behind the treeline. The airplane impacted the ground nose-down, in a near vertical attitude, suspended by trees. Examination of the airplane showed that the aileron control cable was found to have separated between the bell crank in the left wing in the vicinity of the right upper doorpost pulley on its way to the control yoke. Corrosion was present on the upper left and right doorpost pulley bearing, the lower right doorpost pulley bearing, the bulkhead assembly-rear doorpost channel near the upper pulley, and the inner surface of the wing skins and ribs of both the left and right wings. The right wing forward flap cable was found to have separated about 27 inches from the bellcrank in the right wing, and corrosion was observed at the flap attachment rods and both the left and right attachment rods were bent. Sections a broken flap and aileron cables were examined at the NTSB Materials Laboratory, Washington, D.C., and the examination revealed that the wire rope of the flap cable was separated with almost all of the wires broken within a 0.5-inch axial length. There was minor unraveling of the strands adjacent to the separation, but no unraveling of the individual wires within strands. Detailed examination with a bench binocular microscope revealed extensive corrosion damage at the broken ends, with many of the individual wires corroded all of the way through. Dark deposits that appeared to be a mixture of oxidation debris and dried grease were noted within about 1 inch of the broken ends. The wire rope of the aileron cable had separated with almost all of the wires broken within a 0.5-inch axial length. There was some unraveling of the strands as well as the individual wires within strands adjacent to the separation. Detailed examination with a bench binocular microscope revealed extensive corrosion damage at the broken ends, with many of the individual wires corroded all of the way through. Dark and rust-colored oxidation deposits were noted within about 1.5 inches of the broken ends.

Probable Cause: Inadequate maintenance inspection of the airplane by comapny maintenance personnel which resulted in corrosion in an aileron control cable going undetected, failure of the aileron control cable, and impact with terrain following loss of control of the airplane.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: MIA02FA066
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 2 years and 10 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB MIA02FA066

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
14-Oct-2022 19:49 ASN Update Bot Added

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org