Luis Munoz Marin Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

San Juan
Tuesady, July 9, 1996 16:05 AST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The first officer was flying the airplane and after takeoff and flap retraction while manually retrimming the airplane, the elevator control system failed. The flight returned and landed uneventfully. Examination of the elevator control system revealed a failed cable segment between fuselage station 74 in the cockpit to fuselage station 310 in the cabin. The cable failed about midpoint between a 45-degree change in direction. Metallurgical examination of the failed cable revealed it failed due to fatigue and wear. The airplane manufacturer requires the cables to be inspected every 4,800 hours but the airplane operator reduced the time interval to 2,400 hours. The cables were last inspected 2,247.5 hours earlier. The airplane manufacturer requires cable replacement only on condition.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Fatigue failure of a segment of the elevator trim control cable. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the airplane manufacturer to require a replacement interval of the cables.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 7/9/1996
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1605
Event Time Zone Atlantic Standard Time
Event City SAN JUAN
Event State PUERTO RICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 00937
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LUIS MUNOZ MARIN INT'L
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SJU
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 10
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1556 Atlantic Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SJU
Elevation of weather observation facility 10
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation AST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 18
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 12
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5037
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 10 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 800
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:13AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N384MQ
NTSB Number MIA96IA179
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Short Brothers
Aircraft Model SD3-60-200
Aircraft Series Identifier SD3-60-200
Aircraft Serial Number SH3711
Certified Max Gross Weight 26453
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 35
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Feb 24 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 2248
Airframe Hours 16554
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FIRST SECURITY BANK OF UT TRUS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 79 S. MAIN ST.
Aircraft Owner City SALT LAKE CITY
Aircraft Owner State UT
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 84111
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name EXECUTIVE AIRLINES, INC.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address P.O. BOX 38082 AIRPORT STATION
Operator City SAN JUAN
Operator State PR
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 00937
Operator Code TRBA
Owner has at least one certificate Yes - certificate holder
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code SJU
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone AST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code STT
Destination City ST. THOMAS
Destination State VI
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --