Fairchild Air Force Base Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fairchild Afb, Washington 99011
Saturday, September 14, 1996 13:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During recovery from a left hammerhead stall, the pilot of a French-built Mudry CAP 10B transmitted that he had a locked control. At about that time, the airplane entered a steep right bank and began descending. It remained in a descending turn for three steeply banked 360 degree right turns, then it impacted the ground. Videotapes revealed rudder and elevator movements during the descending turn, but no aileron movement was seen from the time the pilot said he had a locked control until the airplane hit the ground. Investigation revealed two three-wire electrical bundles in each wing, which had been routed to the wingtip strobe lights and the wingtip smoke canister activation system. These created a resistance to movement of the aileron pushpull tubes. The right wing wire bundles had been routed through the center of the right aileron bellcrank mechanism. Testing revealed that the wire bundles in the right wing could become lodged in the bellcrank mechanism, and could jam the ailerons in a position that would cause the airplane to roll to the right. Flight tests simulating this condition in another CAP 10B confirmed that the airplane was not controllable when the ailerons were jammed in such a position. The manufacturer reported that the 1975 model airplane was not equipped with strobe lights or a smoke canister system when it left the factory. The investigation did not determine who had routed the bundles through the right bellcrank or for how long they had been in that location.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

loss of control due to a jammed aileron pushpull tube, due to improper installation/routing of electrical wire bundles through the right aileron bellcrank mechanism by unknown person(s).

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/14/1996
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1300
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City FAIRCHILD AFB
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99011
Event Date Year 1996
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID SKA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1255 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID SKA
Elevation of weather observation facility 2462
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1505
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 14 1996 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1330
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 10:22AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N25AK
NTSB Number SEA96FA214
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Mudry
Aircraft Model CAP 10B
Aircraft Series Identifier CAP 10B
Aircraft Serial Number 56
Certified Max Gross Weight 1830
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 8 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 26
Airframe Hours 1879
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name HEALE, ROBERT H.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 7806 SOUTH CARNATION RD.
Aircraft Owner City SPOKANE
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99204
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
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 --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code SKA
Departure City
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1250
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent - uncontrolled
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
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 --