Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Monroe, Oregon 97456
Wednesday, May 30, 2001 18:55 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The aircraft was on an instrument training flight at the time of the occurrence. The flight was cleared to an altitude of 6,000 feet on departure. The trainee reported that as the aircraft climbed through 4,500 feet, with the instructor flying the aircraft, "the airplane pitched up, and rolled to the left followed by a pitch down, and a roll back to wings level, then a pitch back up and to the left." The instructor stated that as the aircraft climbed through that altitude, "the aircraft suddenly nosedived for about 3-4 seconds and pitched up into a climb." Both pilots reported that they susbsequently felt the pitch control stuck in a pitch-up position, and that they had to hold forward pressure to hold the nose down (the instructor stated both pilots had to apply full forward pressure to prevent a stall.) The instructor further reported that the aircraft would not roll; the trainee reported that the controls were stuck in roll to the left. The pilots reported that the instructor subsequently attempted to trim the aircraft nose-down, without success. The pilots declared an emergency with ATC and subsequently elected to land in a field directly in front of the aircraft by utilizing rudder and power for control, which they accomplished successfully. The pilots reported in their initial interview with the FAA inspector that they did not have the autopilot on at the time of the occurrence, and that they made no attempts to disengage the autopilot during the incident. Post-incident examinations of the flight controls, trim, and autopilot operation by the operator, an FAA inspector, and the autopilot manufacturer did not disclose any evidence of malfunctions or abnormal flight control or autopilot operation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A degradation of aircraft control for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 5/30/2001
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1855
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Monroe
Event State OREGON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 97456
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 5
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 --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 345
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11899
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date May 30 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2130
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 18 2002 10:15AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Portland (Hillsboro), OR

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N571SP
NTSB Number SEA01IA113
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172S
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 172S8496
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection May 4 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 56.7
Airframe Hours 544.5
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name R & D Leasing of Oregon Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 215 SW Wood St.
Aircraft Owner City Hillsboro
Aircraft Owner State OR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 971235627
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Hillsboro Aviation Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 3565 NE Cornell Rd
Operator City Hillsboro
Operator State OR
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 97124
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code EUG
Departure City Eugene
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1840
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code HIO
Destination City Hillsboro
Destination State OR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 2 2002 7:01PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --