20150805012669I

Incident · No damage

FAA incident report · Piper PA-28-181 · Phoenix, AZ · August 5, 2015

Date
August 5, 2015 · 08:30 local
Place
Phoenix, AZ
Airport
Deer Valley
Phase of flight
Cruise/Level Flight
Operating rules
Pilot school (Part 141)
Operator
2FQS
Damage
No damage
Aircraft
N329PA
Reported as
Piper PA-28-181
Reported engine
Lycoming O-360 series
People aboard
2
Fatal injuries
0
Other injuries
0

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.

N-329PA, PA-28-181 aircraft with student pilot and instructor pilot on board departed Deer Valley Airport. After a normal climb out and as the aircraft transistions to cruise flight regime the student pilots aileron/elevator control came off in his hands. The instructor pilot in the right seat assumed control of the aircraft, declared an emergency and returned to Deer Valley Airport and made an uneventful landing. Subsequent investigation revealed the pin holding the universal joint together had sheared, the bushings fell out and the joint separated causing the control to fall out of the panel.

As the FAA filed it

N-329PA, PA-28-181 AIRCRAFT WITH STUDENT PILOT AND INSTRUCTOR PILOT ON BOARD DEPARTED DEER VALLEY AIRPORT. AFTER A NORMAL CLIMB OUT AND AS THE AIRCRAFT TRANSISTIONS TO CRUISE FLIGHT REGIME THE STUDENT PILOTS AILERON/ELEVATOR CONTROL CAME OFF IN HIS HANDS. THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT IN THE RIGHT SEAT ASSUMED CONTROL OF THE AIRCRAFT, DECLARED AN EMERGENCY AND RETURNED TO DEER VALLEY AIRPORT AND MADE AN UNEVENTFUL LANDING. SUBSEQUENT INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE PIN HOLDING THE UNIVERSAL JOINT TOGETHER HAD SHEARED, THE BUSHINGS FELL OUT AND THE JOINT SEPARATED CAUSING THE CONTROL TO FALL OUT OF THE PANEL.