- Date
- June 24, 1998, 14:20 local (18:20 UTC)
- Place
- Oneonta, NY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3493CCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 21, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980624019809A
- Case key
- 39577
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. A factor was chafing of the cable.
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
The airplane veered to the right during landing. The pilot attempted a go-around, but had no left rudder response. The airplane continued in a right turn before it settled into some trees about 200 feet from the runway and 110 degrees from the runway heading. Examination of the airplane revealed a broken left rudder cable. The cable was replaced in July 1985, had 454 hours of flight time on it, and was found free of corrosion. Breaks in wire strands varied along a 1-inch section of the cable, and numerous broken strands were bent backwards. The cable break was in the vicinity of where the rudder cable went through a bulkhead, and then through a pulley mounted on the bulkhead's forward side.
Factual narrative
On June 24, 1998, about 1420 Eastern Daylight Time, a Cessna 170B, N3493C, was destroyed during a landing at Oneonta Municipal Airport (N66), Oneonta, New York. The certificated private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR 91.
According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Inspector, the pilot stated that the airplane veered to the right during the landing. The pilot said he attempted a go-around, but had no left rudder response. The airplane continued in a right turn to a maximum altitude of 60 feet before it settled into some trees about 200 feet from the runway and 110 degrees from the runway heading.
On-site examination of the airplane revealed a broken left rudder cable, part number 0510105-1. The cable was free of corrosion, and had 454 hours of flight time on it. According to the aircraft logbook, the cable was replaced in July 1985.
Further inspection of the cable revealed that breaks in individual strands varied along a 1-inch section of the cable, and that numerous broken strands were bent backwards. The turnbuckle assembly that connected the cable to the rudder horn was bent about 10 degrees, and where the cable joined the turnbuckle, the cable was bent about 30 degrees. The cable separated approximately 19 inches from the farthest end of the turnbuckle.
A review of schematic diagrams revealed that the cable break was in the vicinity of where the rudder cable went through a bulkhead, and then through a pulley mounted on the bulkhead's forward side.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3493C
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 26536
- Airframe hours
- 1,505
- Engine
- Continental O-300D, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Steven R Mason
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 21, 1997 · 30 hours before
- Departed
- N66
- Airport
- N66 · Oneonta Municipal Airport, runway 6, 4,200 × 75 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
- 46
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 303 total · 215 in this make and model · 241 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 305° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ALB, 57 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.