Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Detroit, Michigan 48201
Wednesday, September 4, 2002 12:34 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While climbing to cruise altitude the first officer (FO) reported that turns to the left were "difficult". The flightcrew continued the climb and noticed the rudder trim had trimmed 5 units to the right. Approximately 2,000 feet prior to leveloff the pitch trim annunciator light illuminated and remained illuminated after the flightcrew completed the quick reference checklist. The flightcrew monitored the trim position indicator and manually operated the trim for the remainder of the flight. Company maintenance personnel determined a malfunctioning yaw damper was the source of the control anomaly.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A malfunctioning yaw damper.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 9/4/2002
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1234
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Detroit
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 48201
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 421242N
Event Location Longitude 0832054W
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 Not pertinent
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.15
Density Altitude (feet) 1375
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 25
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14817
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Sep 4 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1145
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2004 8:07AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA - Detroit FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N110XJ
NTSB Number CHI02IA275
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 121: Air Carrier
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Saab-Scania AB (Saab)
Aircraft Model 340A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number M369MA
Certified Max Gross Weight 28000
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 33
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Continuous Airworthiness
Date of Last Inspection Sep 30 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1580
Airframe Hours 31474
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Mesaba Aviation, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 7501 26th Avenue South
Aircraft Owner City Minneapolis
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55450
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 MALA
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 Scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code CLE
Departure City Cleavland
Departure State OH
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DET
Destination City Detroit
Destination State MI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Climb - to cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2003 9:01AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --