Cessna 180 N7620A

Summary

On 22 August 2020 at about 16:51 local time, a Cessna 180 registered N7620A, operated by Casement Llc, was involved in an accident near St Louis, Missouri, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 August 2020 at 16:51

Classification

Accident

Location

St Louis, Missouri, United States

Coordinates

38.6233, -90.5428

Aircraft

Cessna 180

Registration

N7620A

Category

Airplane

Year built

1956

Engines

1

Operator

Casement Llc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

St Louis → Fredericktown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN20LA360

1 person was seriously injured.

A total loss of engine power due to improper maintenance of the mixture control cable and attachment hardware, which led to a forced landing into a congested area.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While in cruise flight, the pilot reported hearing a loud “pop,” and the engine suddenly lost power. The pilot executed a forced landing toward a lacrosse field surrounded by residences. The airplane impacted terrain in a nose-down attitude, which substantially damaged both wings and seriously injured the pilot. A postaccident examination revealed that the carburetor mixture control cable was disconnected from the carburetor control lever at the carburetor, with the attachment hardware (bolt, nut, and washer stack) still attached to the carburetor. No other anomalies were found that would have precluded normal operation. Laboratory analysis of the mixture control cable and attachment hardware (bolt, nut, and washer stack) determined that the hardware was used repeatedly in numerous configurations, and the cable did not have a kink at the end indicating it had not been bent. The maintenance manual specified that the cable was to be bent 90 degrees after being threaded through the bolt hole to help secure the cable, and not doing so likely contributed to the cable becoming disconnected from the carburetor control lever inflight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.