Piper PA-34-200T N8297P

Summary

On 17 November 2009 at about 13:45 local time, a Piper PA-34-200T registered N8297P, operated by Glen R. Smith, Jr., was involved in an accident near Saginaw, Texas, United States. One person was 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

17 November 2009 at 13:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Saginaw, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Hicks Field (T67)

Coordinates

32.9367, -97.4500

Aircraft

Piper PA-34-200T

Registration

N8297P

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Glen R. Smith, Jr.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Worth → Arlington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN10LA052

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inability to maintain control of the airplane due to a pinched trim system wire that resulted in a runaway nose-down pitch trim.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that he took off and did not engage the autopilot, but did use the electric trim switch on the control yoke to establish a climb attitude after takeoff. When he activated the trim switch, the airplane "pitched down rapidly." Despite his application of full up elevator to arrest the descent, the airplane continued to descend. The pilot was forced to make a landing in an open field. During the ensuing forced landing, the airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings and fuselage. The pitch trim drum inner shaft was found to be in the full-nose-down position. Examination of the cockpit revealed all circuit breakers were closed and the master switch had been secured. The flight computer, trim servo, directional gyro, flight command indicator, pictorial navigation indicator, and control yoke were functionally tested and no defects were noted. The original control yoke trim switch had been replaced. The switch wiring was not the original wiring and did not correspond to the original color codes on the wires. The wire colors were written on pieces of masking tape which were wrapped around each corresponding wire. One of the wires was pinched and pressing on the switch wafer stack; according to a representative of the manufacturer the pinched wire pressing on the switch wafer stack could have resulted in a runaway trim condition.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.