- Date
- March 6, 2012, 17:15 local (22:15 UTC)
- Place
- Mooresville, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5693CCessna 140A
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Flight control sys malf/fail
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 15, 2012
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20120306004209A
- Case key
- 83058
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
The separation of the left rudder cable turnbuckle and the pilot’s subsequent loss of directional control during landing.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that during the landing roll, the left rudder pedal suddenly "went slack" and moved forward to the firewall. He was unable to use the wheel brakes, and the tail slowly yawed to the left. The airplane skidded, the main landing gear failed, and the airplane came to a stop on the turf runway with substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. Postaccident examination revealed that the left rudder cable turnbuckle was disconnected and its safety wire was broken. The threads of the cable rod end were not stripped. The last annual inspection on the airframe was completed about 5 months before the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, during the landing rollout, the left rudder pedal suddenly "went slack" and went forward to the firewall. He was unable to use the wheel brakes, and the tail slowly yawed to the left. The airplane skidded, the main landing gear failed, and the airplane came to a stop on the turf runway. An inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration inspected the wreckage and confirmed substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. The pilot reported, and the FAA inspector confirmed, that the left rudder cable turnbuckle was found disconnected its safety wire was broken. The threads of the cable rod end were not stripped. The last annual inspection on the airframe occurred about five months prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5693C
- Reported as
- Cessna 140A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15653
- Airframe hours
- 1,853
- Engine
- Cont Motor C90 SERIES, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Gross Thomas E
- Registered owner
- Gross Thomas E
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 30, 2011 · 40 hours before
- Departed
- NC30 · Mooresville, NC
- Destination
- NC30 · Mooresville, NC
- Airport
- NC30 · Miller Air Park, runway 36, 2,060 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 24, 2010
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 3,300 total · 600 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 21 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.62 inHg
- Observed at
- SVH, 13 nm away
Docket · 6
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 10, 2012, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 7.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.