Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Snohomish, Washington 98290
Sunday, September 22, 1991 19:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

DURING CRUISE A PARTIAL POWER LOSS OCCURRED AND THE PILOT, UNABLE TO REACH A SUITABLE AIRPORT, EXECUTED A FORCED LANDING. POST CRASH EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT THE MIXTURE CONTROL CABLE CORE HAD SEPARATED AT THE MIXTURE CONTROL ARM BOLT ADJACENT TO THE CARBURETOR. ADDITIONALLY, THE ADEL CLAMP ASSEMBLY RETAINING THE MIXTURE CONTROL CABLE NEAR THE MIXTURE CONTROL ARM WAS OBSERVED TO BE SEPARATED. THE SEPARATED CABLE CORE WAS DUE TO REVERSE BENDING FATIGUE CRACKING CONSISTENT WITH EXCESSIVE VIBRATORY LOADS APPLIED TO THE CABLE AS A RESULT OF THE SEPARATED ADEL CLAMP ASSEMBLY. THE SEPARATED ADEL CLAMP WAS DUE TO EXCESSIVE TWISTING LOADS APPLIED TO THE CLAMP. DURING THE FORCED LANDING ROLLOUT, WHICH WAS EXECUTED ON ROUGH TERRAIN, THE NOSE WHEEL ASSEMBLY COLLAPSED.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE SEPARATION OF THE MIXTURE CONTROL CABLE (CORE) RESULTING FROM SEPARATION OF THE ADEL CLAMP ASSEMBLY AND IMPROPER ADJUSTMENT BY MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/22/1991
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1915
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City SNOHOMISH
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98290
Event Date Year 1991
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1945 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 257
Weather Observation Facility ID PAE
Elevation of weather observation facility 606
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Dusk
Lowest Ceiling Height 15000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
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) 15
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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) 2109
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time 0
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 46799
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 10:45AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N3314T
NTSB Number SEA91LA249
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name CESSNA
Aircraft Model 177
Aircraft Series Identifier 177
Aircraft Serial Number 17700614
Certified Max Gross Weight 2275
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Mar 22 1991 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 303
Airframe Hours 3047
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SIGMET INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 660 NORTH FERNSIDE
Aircraft Owner City TACOMA
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98406
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name SIGMET INC.
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address 660 NORTH FERNSIDE
Operator City TACOMA
Operator State WA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 98406
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code TIW
Departure City TACOMA
Departure State WA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1820
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
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 --