ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 322921
| Date: | Saturday 28 December 2002 |
| Time: | 12:30 |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter |
| Owner/operator: | Grasshopper Aviation |
| Registration: | N3904 |
| MSN: | 54 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1954 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 16437 hours |
| Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney R-1340-59 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial, repaired |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 56 km E of Nikolai, AK -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Nikolai Airport, AK (NIB/PAFS) |
| Wasilla Airport, AK (WWA/PAWS) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The airplane climbed to about 800 feet above the ground and the airspeed increased to about 55 knots, the pilot heard a very loud bang, followed by a loud rattling noise. He said that as he was attempting to turn the airplane around and return to the departure airstrip, he experienced considerable difficulty in maintaining longitudinal directional control using the airplane's rudder pedals. Using a combination of aileron control, and the remaining amount of rudder control, he was able to maneuver the airplane for an easterly landing on the airstrip. The pilot said that as the airplane passed over the approach end of the airstrip, the airplane drifted to the right, and he initiated a go-around. The airplane subsequently collided with a stand of trees on the south side of the airstrip, and sustained substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "An improper and undocumented major repair of the elevator torque tube support assembly by an unknown person, which resulted in an in-flight disconnection of the airplane's right elevator, and a jammed rudder. A factor associated with the accident is the inadequate inspection of the airplane by company maintenance personnel."
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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