# Incident 20061126028399I: Cessna 550, Wellsboro, PA, November 26, 2006

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: November 26, 2006, 18:30 local time
- Place: Wellsboro, PA
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Operator: ON0A
- Location: 41.7455° N, 77.3037° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Wellsboro, PA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=41.7455&lon=-77.3037&mi=10
- Aircraft: N50NF, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N50NF-2014-07-17) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 550 (registry code 2076604, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-550) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 550
- People aboard: 5
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 13,500 total, 8,000 in this make and model, 30 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20061126028399I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-23) AIRCRAFT WAS ENROUTE AT FL370 FROM KLUK TO KHFD. AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED A LOSS OF PRESSURIZATION AND CREW INITIATED AN EMERGENCY DESCENT. THE FLIGHT CREW DONNED BREATHING APPARATUS AND DECLARED AN EMERGENCY. FLIGHT WAS CONTINUED TO DESTINATION AT 10,000 MSL AND LANDED UNEVENTFULLY. THE DIRECTOR OF MAINTENANCE (DOM) INSPECTED THE AIRCRAFT AND DISCOVERED THAT THE AIR TUBE PROVIDING WARM AIR TO AREA AROUND THE DOOR SEAL VALVE WAS TAPED OVER. DUE TO EXCEPTIONALLY COLD TEMPERATURES AT ALTITUDE, AND THE LACK OF WARMING AIR TO THE VALVE, THE VALVE FROZE, CAUSING THE DOOR SEAL TO LOSE EFFECTIVENESS. SUBSEQUENTLY, CABIN PRESSURIZATION WAS LOST. THE DOM WAS UNSURE AS TO WHY THE TUBE WAS TAPED OVER, BUT STATED THAT IT WAS AN IMPROPER MAINTENANCE TECHNIQUE. THE AREA OF THE TAPED OVER AIR TUBE IS NOT ACCESSIBLE TO THE FLIGHT CREW DURING PREFLIGHT INSPECTION, NOR MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL DURING ROUTINE MAINTENANCE. DOM STATED THAT INSPECTION OF THE AREA WAS LAST PERFORMED BY CONTRACT MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL DURING A PHASE INSPECTION IN JUNE 2006.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft 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. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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