- Date
- December 15, 1992, 09:12 local (14:12 UTC)
- Place
- Cleveland, OH
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N706MBeech 18T
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 14, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19921215050289A
- Case key
- 37237
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 improper installation of the elevator by company maintenance personnel and the lack of proper inspections by a company certified mechanic/inspector and the FAA certified mechanic with inspector authorization. A factor in this accident was an insufficiently defined maintenance procedures that allowed multiple maintenance tasks to be combined into a single line entry.
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
After rotation, during the initial climb, the nose of the airplane pitched up to approximately 60 degrees above the horizon. The airplane continued to climb until about 250 feet above the ground, then rolled right, pitched down and descended. The airplane impacted the ground, approximately 45 degrees nose down, 650 feet to the right of the runway. Post accident investigation of the wreckage revealed the elevator jammed in the full up deflection. The upper end of the elevator control rod was found not connected to the elevator, but was found laying aft, wedged between the tail cone and the elevator faring, holding the elevator in the full up position. The control rod connecting bolt was found laying in the bottom of the tail cone undamaged. The washer, nut and cotter pin related to the control rod connecting bolt were not found. The elevator had been removed, recovered and then installed by company maintenance personnel 166 flight hours prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N706M
- Reported as
- Beech 18T
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12360
- Airframe hours
- 16,115
- Engine
- Garrett TPE-331-1, 665 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Mohican Air Service Inc
- Registered owner
- Mohican Air Service Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · December 7, 1992 · 9 hours before
- Departed
- CLE
- Destination
- SYR · Syracuse, NY
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- CLE · Cleveland-Hopkins, runway 23, 7,096 × 150 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
- 34
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,768 total · 91 in this make and model · 3,832 as pilot in command · 123 in the last 90 days · 53 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 180° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- CLE, 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.
Other investigations on N706M · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.