Swearingen SA226TC N770S

Summary

On 5 April 2006 at about 12:23 local time, a Swearingen SA226TC registered N770S was involved in an incident near Denver, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 April 2006 at 12:23

Classification

Incident

Location

Denver, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Denver Intl (DEN)

Coordinates

39.8614, -104.6731

Aircraft

Swearingen SA226TC

Registration

N770S

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Denver → Dodge City

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

DEN06IA056

Nobody was injured.

the failure of the elevator down cable due to an improperly routed cable by unknown maintenance personnel. A contributing factor was the improper inspection of the elevator cable by the operator's maintenance personnel.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Prior to departure, the pilot completed the pre-takeoff checklist, which included checking the flight controls. While at 80-85 knots during the takeoff roll, the pilot "noticed pitch seemed very light. At rotation speed, [pilot] pulled back on yoke and aircraft left ground. At this point, yoke came back all the way back and aircraft began to quickly pitch upward." The pilot reported that moving the yoke forward had no effect and it felt disconnected from the elevators. The pilot quickly began to trim nose down and reduced power to stop excessive nose up pitch. After gaining marginal control of the aircraft, the pilot advised air traffic control he had a "flight control problem" and requested a return for landing. During the downwind leg to runway 17L, the pilot "experimented with various configurations...to determine the method of approach and landing." The pilot executed a gradual descent to the runway and landed uneventfully. Examination of the airplane by company maintenance personnel revealed that "the elevator down cable was improperly routed at the pulley in the vertical stab, just below the elevator bell crank. This caused the cable to wear against a guide until the cable failed." The aircraft underwent an inspection 10 days prior to the incident. According to the inspection checklist, the elevator cables and related components were inspected with no anomalies noted. Upon discovery of the improper routed cable, the operator checked the other 18 aircraft in their fleet. No discrepanices were found.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.