- Date
- February 10, 1989, 17:25 local (Feb 11, 1989, 00:25 UTC)
- Place
- Saint George, UT
- Injuries
- 6 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N1010ZSwearingen SA226TC
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 24, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890210003489A
- Case key
- 17580
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Malfunction of the nosewheel steering system due to improper installation of the nosewheel steering poppet valve & inadequate maintenance instructions.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Drg the takeoff roll with the coplt at the ctls, the acft began turning to the left. The coplt corrected with rgt rudder, but as the takeoff contd, the acft veered uncontrollably to the left. The takeoff was aborted, but before stopping, the acft turned further left & hit a Cessna 172 & a ups vehicle, both of which were unoccupied. This was the 1st flt after maint on the nosewheel steering sys. A sys check revealed that when hydraulic & electrical pwr were applied, the nosewheel steering sys would deflect to the left at a rate of about one degree per second. Investigation revealed that when maint was performed, a one-piece arming/poppet vlv was used to replace a two-piece vlv, which was previously installed. Drg the instln, the small part of the two-piece vlv (abt the size of a washer) was not removed. When the one-piece vlv was instld properly, the sys operd normally. Maint instrns & drawings did not address the TW0- piece vlv & no instrns were fnd to indc the two pieces of the old vlv should be chgd as a package.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1010Z
- Reported as
- Swearingen SA226TC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TC-373
- Airframe hours
- 16,361
- Engine
- Airesearch TPE-331, 940 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Skywest Airlines, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · February 7, 1989 · 2 hours before
- Departed
- SGU
- Destination
- PSP · Palm Springs, CA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- SGU · Saint George, runway 16, 6,100 × 100 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 40
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 7,282 total · 1,825 in this make and model · 4,736 as pilot in command · 148 in the last 90 days · 55 in the last 30 days · 9 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SGU, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.