Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fresno Yosemite International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fresno, California 93727
Friday, September 3, 2004 16:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with the runway during the landing flare after the pilot experienced inhibited pitch control movement on approach for landing. The pilot said that when the landing gear was extended and the wing flaps were partially extended, his ability to move the control yoke was noticeably restricted. The pilot reported that he tried to pull back on the yoke and use the manual trim to regain control, but the airplane did not respond. The pilot said he lost complete pitch control when he attempted to flare during the landing. The airplane abruptly nosed down and impacted the runway surface. An examination of the wreckage revealed that the control yoke's movement was restricted. Only partial up-elevator travel could be obtained. One side of the autopilot's servo bridle cable for the elevator was found frayed and broken, and was detached from the servo capstan bridle cable locking pin. The other servo bridle cable was found attached to the main elevator control cable and servo, but it was twisted and deformed. Both servo capstan bridle cable guide pins were bent full forward. One nylon guide pin guard was missing and was found in the fuselage belly. The pitch servo (actuator) was removed from the airplane and examined at a repair station. Upon investigation it was determined that the bridle cable had not been wrapped correctly and continued excessive unwrapping of the bridle cable from the capstan had caused it to fray and eventually break. The servomotor initially would not start running until approximately 12 volts of direct current (DC) were applied to the motor. The servo is designed for 28-volt DC operation. After several on-and-off cycles of DC, the motor started running with approximately 5 to 6 volts DC applied. However, even at the full 28 volts, the motor operated slowly. The servo gear train actuator mechanism was found sticky and needed maintenance. The airplane had been operated about 57 hours since last receiving an annual inspection, about 11 months before the accident. No evidence of autopilot system maintenance was found in the 23-year-old airplane's maintenance records. Neither the autopilot or airframe manufacturers had specified a maintenance or inspection schedule for the bridle cables.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's loss of pitch control authority during landing flare due to an autopilot system failure that inhibited control yoke movement. A factor was inadequate autopilot system maintenance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/3/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1630 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Fresno |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93727 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 364603N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1194305W |
| Event Location Airport | Fresno Yosemite International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FAT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 336 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1630 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FAT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 336 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.73 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KFAT 032356Z 31009KT 280V360 10SM FEW100 |
| 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) | 18498 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 3 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1644 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Fresno, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1854N |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA312 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | F33A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | CE-975 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 57 |
| Airframe Hours | 2379 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Melvin E. Rathgeber |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tustin |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92780 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SNA |
| Departure City | SANTA ANA |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | O68 |
| Destination City | Mariposa |
| Destination State | CA |
| 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 | Jul 18 2005 4:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29L |
| Runway Length | 7205 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |