Piper PA-44-180 N30521

Summary

On 16 August 2007 at about 22:30 local time, a Piper PA-44-180 registered N30521 was involved in an incident near New Bern, North Carolina, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 August 2007 at 22:30

Classification

Incident

Location

New Bern, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Craven County Regional Airport (EWN)

Coordinates

35.0731, -77.0431

Aircraft

Piper PA-44-180

Registration

N30521

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

New Bern → New Bern

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC07IA194

Nobody was injured.

A failure of the stabilator control cable turnbuckle terminal fitting due to corrosion. Contributing to the accident were the mechanic's inadequate annual inspection, and the aircraft manufacturer's failure to provide adequate information in its maintenance manuals regarding the inspection of control cable terminals for corrosion.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During initial climb, the certified flight instructor (CFI) noticed very little resistance from the stabilator; however, he was able to land the airplane uneventfully using stabilator trim. Examination of the airplane revealed that the stabilator control cable turnbuckle terminal fitting had failed due to corrosion. The National Transportation Safety Board had issued a recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), more than 6 years prior to the incident. The Safety Board recommended that the FAA issue an airworthiness directive (AD) to require recurrent visual inspections for evidence of corrosion on control cable terminals, and the inspections should be performed after removal of any safety wire or safety clips on the terminals. At that time, the airplane manufacturer had committed to revising its maintenance manuals to include similar instruction. At the time of the incident, the airplane manufacturer had issued a service letter, but had not yet updated their maintenance manuals; and the FAA had issued a non-mandatory Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin in lieu of an AD. A mechanic performed an annual inspection of the incident airplane, and returned it to service, 21 days prior to the incident. The mechanic stated that he inspected the incident airplane's control cables for damage during its recent annual inspection; however, he believed he missed the corrosion on the turnbuckle terminal fitting due to a safety wire that covered it. The mechanic added that when he performed the annual inspection he was not aware of a manufacturer service letter or an FAA SAIB regarding the inspection for corrosion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.