20050129001189I

Incident · Minor damage

FAA incident report · Cessna 172N · Newport, RI · January 29, 2005

Date
January 29, 2005 · 11:40 local
Place
Newport, RI
Airport
Newport State Airport
Phase of flight
To Init Climb(1st Pwr Reduct)
Operating rules
General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage
Minor damage
Aircraft
N3568E
Reported as
Cessna 172N
Reported engine
Lycoming O320H2AD
People aboard
4
Fatal injuries
0
Pilot’s flight hours
110 total110 in this make and model10 in the last 90 days

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

(-23) Pilot reported difficulty climbing after first touch and go, and was concerned aircraft might settle into trees on climb out. He found the right flap to be bent, creating extra drag. An emergency was declared. After going around on the first attempted emergency landing, a second, successful attempt was made. Damage was limited to the flap itself, and appears to be caused by the failure of the outboard bearing on the right flap. It apparently seized during retraction, causing the flap motor to pull the flap out of shape as it attempted to retract the flap.

As the FAA filed it

(-23) PILOT REPORTED DIFFICULTY CLIMBING AFTER FIRST TOUCH AND GO, AND WAS CONCERNED AIRCRAFT MIGHT SETTLE INTO TREES ON CLIMB OUT. HE FOUND THE RIGHT FLAP TO BE BENT, CREATING EXTRA DRAG. AN EMERGENCY WAS DECLARED. AFTER GOING AROUND ON THE FIRST ATTEMPTED EMERGENCY LANDING, A SECOND, SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT WAS MADE. DAMAGE WAS LIMITED TO THE FLAP ITSELF, AND APPEARS TO BE CAUSED BY THE FAILURE OF THE OUTBOARD BEARING ON THE RIGHT FLAP. IT APPARENTLY SEIZED DURING RETRACTION, CAUSING THE FLAP MOTOR TO PULL THE FLAP OUT OF SHAPE AS IT ATTEMPTED TO RETRACT THE FLAP.