Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Robertson Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Plainville, Connecticut 06374
Friday, April 9, 2004 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the climbout, the pilot could not lower the nose of the airplane without using excessive force on the yoke. He then attempted to use the manual elevator trim wheel to lower the nose. When the manual elevator trim wheel was rolled forward, and released, it rolled back on its own to the original position. The pilot performed all of the published emergencies; however, the situation did not change. The pilot elected to discontinue the flight, and performed a forced landing back to the airport. While landing, the airplane had an excessive nose high attitude, and the pilot aggressively pushed the nose over with the yoke. The airplane touched down hard, collapsing the nose wheel assembly, and slid to a stop on the runway. The pilot further stated that he did not recall engaging the autopilot during the flight, and did not attempt to use the elevator trim switch located on the yoke. Examination of the wreckage revealed no abnormalities with the autopilot, or the flight controls when they were tested. Two days before the accident, the pilot consulted an avionics mechanic about the elevator control being stiff and difficult to move. The mechanic examined the airplane and stated that "it checked out OK, but there was a possibility that at some time, the elevator servo might jam in an unscheduled position." The pilot and mechanic agreed that the servos would be replaced at a later date. The servos were not replaced until after the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the elevator servo which resulted in restricted elevator movement and the pilot's inability to initiate a landing flare.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Plainville |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06374 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414125N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0725153W |
| Event Location Airport | Robertson Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4B8 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 200 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HFD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 10 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.73 |
| 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) | 17478 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Windsor Locks FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 15 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2005 6:20AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Windsor Locks, CT |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N518CR |
| NTSB Number | NYC04LA106 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182S |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 182-80281 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3110 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 9 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 194 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Charles Rodie |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Staunton |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 24401 |
| 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 | -- |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 4B8 |
| Departure City | Plainville |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OXC |
| Destination City | Oxford |
| Destination State | CT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 02 |
| Runway Length | 3612 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |