Mitsubishi MU-2B-26A N81MF

Summary

On 27 March 2004 at about 20:16 local time, a Mitsubishi MU-2B-26A registered N81MF was involved in an accident near La Verne, California, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 March 2004 at 20:16

Classification

Accident

Location

La Verne, California, United States

Nearest airport

La Verne (KPOC)

Coordinates

34.0917, -117.7819

Aircraft

Mitsubishi MU-2B-26A

Registration

N81MF

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lake Havasu → La Verne

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX04LA174

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure to adequately compensate for an asymmetrical thrust condition and to maintain directional control during the landing flare. The owner/pilot's failure to comply with the applicable service bulletin concerning propeller/power control rigging was a factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The twin turboprop airplane landed hard collapsing the nose gear, and causing substantial damage to the airframe. The pilot said that about 6-7 miles from the airport, in the terminal descent, he noticed the right engine torque meter read zero. This had occurred before, and the torque would come back if he manipulated the throttle. He continued the normal approach for landing. In the landing flare the airplane yawed right despite his corrective left rudder pedal input. The airplane landed hard, bouncing on the nose twice, breaking the nose wheel strut. It then slid about 2,000 feet down the runway. The ferry pilot, who flew the airplane to the repair facility after the accident, said that the engine power levers were consistently split throughout the entire ferry flight. In order to have the engine power perimeters matched, the right power lever had to be about 2 inches forward of the left one and this positional relationship was constant from flight idle to full power. Maintenance records had no record of compliance to Mitsubishi Service Bulletin No. 097/73-001, which was published "to assure the engine and propeller rigging is adjusted within manufactures specifications and to prevent potential degraded flight handling qualities associated with the flight idle power being set asymmetrically or too low."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.