Cirrus SR22 N695CD

Summary

On 1 June 2009 at about 19:00 local time, a Cirrus SR22 registered N695CD, operated by Satsair LLC, was involved in an incident near Greenville, South Carolina, 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

1 June 2009 at 19:00

Classification

Incident

Location

Greenville, South Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU)

Coordinates

34.8481, -82.3500

Aircraft

Cirrus SR22

Registration

N695CD

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Satsair LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Greenville → Greenville

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09IA315

Nobody was injured.

A pitch control malfunction for undetermined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was "returning the airplane to service," following a maintenance inspection. No anomalies were noted during the preflight inspection, engine start, taxi, run-up, and takeoff roll. As the airplane became airborne, the pilot noticed that the elevator control felt "loose," with about 1/2 inch of "play." The pilot proceeded to an area west of the airport, where the he performed in-fight checks uneventfully. As the airplane was returning to the airport, on short final approach, the pilot reduced the throttle to idle power for landing. Subsequently, about 25 feet above the ground, the nose pitched down. The pilot tried to pull back on the control yoke to flare, but the elevator control was stuck in the mid-range position. The airplane touched down on the nose gear and bounced back up into the air. The sudden jolt of the touchdown seemed to free the elevator control and the pilot was able to complete a normal landing. As the pilot taxied from the runway, he was able to duplicate the control jam. The operator noted that the pitch trim cartridge control rod felt "gritty" when actuated by hand. The operator subsequently reported that the anomaly did not reoccur after the pitch trim cartridge was removed and replaced. In addition, the operator did not report any work performed on the pitch trim cartridge during the recent maintenance inspection. Further examination of the airplane's pitch trim cartridge revealed some corrosion and black grease residue present; however, there was no conclusive evidence found to support a flight control jam.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.