Cessna 650 N651EJ

Summary

On 29 August 2003 at about 21:35 local time, a Cessna 650 registered N651EJ, operated by Three Angels Broadcasting Network, was involved in an incident near Rapid City, South Dakota, United States. 9 people were on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 August 2003 at 21:35

Classification

Incident

Location

Rapid City, South Dakota, United States

Nearest airport

Rapid City Regional (RAP)

Coordinates

44.0453, -103.0572

Aircraft

Cessna 650

Registration

N651EJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Marion → Rapid City

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

NTSB number

CHI03IA300

Nobody was injured.

The in-flight failure of the right wing aileron cable during cruise.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

A Cessna 650 experienced a right wing aileron cable failure while in cruise flight at FL390 approximately 200 miles southeast of Rapid City, South Dakota. The pilot in command reported that with the autopilot engaged, the airplane started a gentle roll to the right. The autopilot was disengaged and a approximate 40 degree control wheel deflection to the left was made to keep the wings level. The right aileron did not seem to move with control wheel deflection. The right roll control spoiler did respond to control wheel inputs. All left control surfaces appeared to function normally. The pilots consulted all control malfunction checklists, and there were no changes noted. The pilots decided to continue to the destination. An uneventful, full-flap landing was made at Rapid City Municipal Airport. Maintenance personnel discovered a completely broken right outboard aileron cable. The right aileron cable (Part Number 6260106-25) underwent a metallurgical examination. The wire stands displayed sheared and cut ends due to pinching as if the cable came off its large diameter pulley and was pulled over a small radius and pinched. Only a few tensile cup cone fractures were found, indicating nearly all the wire strands had been sheared or cut prior to final tensile separation of the few remaining strands.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.