Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

So Lake Tahoe, California 96150
Saturday, May 31, 2003 6:17 PDT

Pitch control was lost during the takeoff initial climb due to a separated elevator control cable and the aircraft nosed over during an off-airport forced landing. During climb out, both pilots noted an increasing nose high pitch attitude and pushed forward on their respective yokes in an effort to regain aircraft control. The aircraft did not respond to control yoke inputs and the certified flight instructor (CFI) was only able to regain control by retracting the flaps and retarding the throttle; however, there was no runway remaining to affect a landing. The CFI used engine power to maintain aircraft pitch control and setup for an off-airport landing. The nose landing gear dug into the soft ground after the airplane touched down and the aircraft nosed over. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector examined the airplane on scene. He removed the empennage inspection panel and found the DOWN elevator cable lying on the floor of the empennage. The safety wire for the DOWN elevator cable had been cut and pulled from the center hole, which allowed the turnbuckle to rotate until it separated from the turnbuckle eye. The other end remained attached to the swaged terminal by two threads. The UP elevator cable turnbuckle safety wire had also been cut on the eye side and pulled out of the center hole of the turnbuckle. The eye remained engaged in the turnbuckle by 19 3/4 turns, and the terminal end remained engaged by 18 1/2 turns. The flight control system was inspected with no further discrepancies noted. A review of the aircraft maintenance records, and shop work orders from maintenance facilities that had worked on the airplane, revealed no instances of maintenance activity that would have involved disturbing the elevator control cable turnbuckles since November 2000. The last annual inspection was completed 8 months and 75 flight hours prior to the accident; both the mechanic and inspector who performed the annual reported that the elevator control system was secure at that point.

a loss of pitch flight control authority due to the disconnection and separation of the elevator DOWN control cable turnbuckle. The separation of the turnbuckle was due to the severance of the safety wire by unknown persons at an unknown time.