Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Hilton Head Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hilton Head, South Carolina 29928
Wednesday, August 1, 2001 7:51 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was on final approach to land at Hilton Head Airport, when according to witnesses, it suddenly rolled to the right, and descended, initially impacting trees at about the 70-foot level, and then impacting the ground. A fire then ensued upon ground impact, and the debris field spanned about 370 feet along an azimuth of about 082 degrees. Examination of the airplane wreckage revealed that left wing flap actuator and jack nut measurements were consistent with the wing flaps being extended to 40 degrees, and on the right wing the flap jack nut and actuator measurements were consistent with the right flap being extended to about a 20-degrees. In addition, the right flap torque tube assembly between the flap motor and the flap stop assembly had disconnected, and the flap torque tube assembly's female coupler which attaches to the male spline end of the flap motor and flap stop assembly was found with a cotter pin installed through the female coupler of the flap stop assembly. The cotter pin, had not been placed through the spline and the coupler consistent with normal installation as per Mitsubishi's maintenance manual, or as specified in Airworthiness Directive 88-23-01. Instead, the cotter pin had missed the male spline on the flap motor. In addition, the flap coupler on the opposite side of the flap motor was found to also found to not have a cotter pin installed. Company maintenance records showed that on April 3, 2001, about 87 flight hours before the accident, the airplane was inspected per Airworthiness Directive (AD) 88-23-01, which required the disassembly, inspection, and reassembly of the flap torque tube joints. In addition, on July 9, 2001, the airplane was given a phase 1 inspection, and Bankair records showed that a company authorized maintenance person performed the applicable maintenance items, and certified the airplane for return to service.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper maintenance/installation and and inadequate inspection of the airplane's flap torque tube joints during routine maintenance by company maintenance personnel, which resulted in the right flap torque tube assembly coupler becoming detached and the flaps developing asymmetrical lift when extended, which resulted in an uncontrolled roll, a descent, and an impact with a tree during approach to land.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/1/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 751 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Hilton Head |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29928 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 320953N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0804401W |
| Event Location Airport | Hilton Head |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HXD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 225 |
| Airport Elevation | 19 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 753 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 50 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 26 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.24 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 900 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| 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) | 14634 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 1 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 854 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Columbia, South Carolina |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1VY |
| NTSB Number | MIA01FA206 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mitsubishi |
| Aircraft Model | MU-2B-35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 567 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 10800 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 9 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 11612.7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BANKAIR INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2406 Edmund Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | West Columbia |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29170 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | BKAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SAV |
| Departure City | Savannah |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 741 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | HXD |
| Destination City | Hilton Head |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 14 2003 2:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 3 |
| Runway Length | 4300 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |