Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Redstone Army Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Huntsville, Alabama 35802
Monday, April 14, 1997 16:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After departing from Redstone Army Airfield, the pilot attempted to level off at 3000 feet. When he did, he experienced difficulties pushing the nose over, which was lessened when nose down trim was applied and power was reduced. As the airplane accelerated, a severe vibration was noted, which was lessened when power was reduced. After trying to pinpoint the problem, the pilot noticed visible damage to the right elevator. A precautionary landing was then executed at the departure airfield. An examination of the elevator revealed a chordwise split and corrosion in the trim tab. There was also a chordwise split in the elevator, that resulted from the oscillation of the trim tab, in flight. Cessna Service Bulletin, SEB92-1, had been issued in January 1992. It recommended that a modification be made to strengthen the trim tab to prevent cracks from forming. The service bulletin recommended that this be accomplished within the next 100 hours of operation or 12 months, whichever occurred first; however, the service bulletin had not been complied with.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
corrosion and subsequent failure of the elevator trim tab, which resulted in vibration and failure of the elevator. Failure of maintenance personnel to comply with a service bulletin was a related factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1615 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | HUNTSVILLE |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35802 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | REDSTONE ARMY AIRFIELD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HUA |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 350 |
| Airport Elevation | 700 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 13 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 316 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 15 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3761Y |
| NTSB Number | ATL97LA059 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 210D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 210D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21058261 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 12 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 2663 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SAVERIO F. MOREA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7901 SMOKE RISE ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | HUNTSVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35802 |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | HUA |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DCU |
| Destination City | DECATUR |
| Destination State | AL |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| 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 | 35 |
| Runway Length | 7000 |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |