SEA01LA075

Just after takeoff, the aircraft started rolling to the left. As the pilot applied right roll inputs, the aircraft accelerated its roll to the left. As it reached a bank angle of approximately 80 degrees, it descended into the runway surface. The flight was intended as a post-maintenance test flight after installation of a replacement set of wings. A post-accident inspection determined that the ailerons had been misrigged so that they deflected opposite to the inputs of the pilot. Neither the pilot nor the mechanic who accompanied him on the flight detected the aileron reversal during the walk-around inspection or the pre-takeoff flight control test.

On April 21, 2001, at 1206 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 177RG, N8283G, impacted the terrain immediately after liftoff from runway 13 Right at King County International Airport, Seattle, Washington. The private pilot received minor injuries, but his passenger was not injured. The aircraft, which was owned and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The local 14 CFR, Part 91 post-maintenance test flight was being operated in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan had been filed. The ELT, which was activated by the accident sequence, was turned off at the scene.

According to the pilot, just after liftoff, the aircraft started rolling to the left. He applied corrective right aileron, but that resulted in the roll to the left becoming accelerated. As the aircraft reached a bank angle of near 80 degrees, it descended into the runway surface. After the impact, the aircraft slid backwards about 200 feet before it collided with an unoccupied aircraft that was tied down on the parking ramp.

The pilot said that this was the first flight after a replacement set of wings had been installed on the aircraft. The pilot and the mechanic who had signed off the work participated in the flight together in order to check the rigging of the aileron control system. According to the pilot, he and the mechanic performed the walk-around check together. The pilot also performed a pre-takeoff flight control check, during which he determined that the ailerons moved freely, proportionately, and through full travel. During both the walk-around and the pre-takeoff check, neither the pilot nor the mechanic noticed that the ailerons were deflecting opposite the direction of the yoke movement.

A post-accident inspection of the flight control system revealed that the aileron control cables had been rigged in a manner which resulted in the aircraft rolling in a direction opposite that of the pilot's inputs.