Cessna 140A N5693C

Summary

On 6 March 2012 at about 22:15 local time, a Cessna 140A registered N5693C, operated by Gross Thomas E, was involved in an accident near Mooresville, North Carolina, 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

6 March 2012 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Mooresville, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Miller Air Park (NC30)

Coordinates

35.6083, -80.7381

Aircraft

Cessna 140A

Registration

N5693C

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Gross Thomas E

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mooresville → Mooresville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA12CA215

Nobody was injured.

The separation of the left rudder cable turnbuckle and the pilot’s subsequent loss of directional control during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that during the landing roll, the left rudder pedal suddenly "went slack" and moved forward to the firewall. He was unable to use the wheel brakes, and the tail slowly yawed to the left. The airplane skidded, the main landing gear failed, and the airplane came to a stop on the turf runway with substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. Postaccident examination revealed that the left rudder cable turnbuckle was disconnected and its safety wire was broken. The threads of the cable rod end were not stripped. The last annual inspection on the airframe was completed about 5 months before the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.