Tucson International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Tucson, Arizona 85706
Saturday, May 7, 2005 9:01 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The engine lost power during the takeoff initial climb and the airplane was damaged during a forced landing. The run-up check was uneventful. When the airplane was about 400 feet above ground level turning the left crosswind leg of the airport traffic pattern, the engine lost power completely. The pilot made a forced landing between a taxiway and the perimeter fence on the airport. Post accident test-run of the engine revealed that the mixture control cable was fractured 0.35 inches from the set screw, which attaches it to the carburetor, and the carburetor mixture arm was free to move, uncommanded. This fracture was hidden by the outer sheath that covers the mixture control cable and movement of the cockpit mixture control did not produce corresponding movement of the carburetor mixture arm. With the fracture surfaces realigned, the wire appeared to have been bent nearly 90 degrees from its normally straight path. A scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of both fracture surfaces of the wire revealed the existence of a fatigue crack about 1/4 of the wire's cross-sectional area and perpendicular to the wire's surface. The origin of the fatigue crack was on the outside surface of the 90-degree bend in the wire, which suggests that the crack initiated and propagated during service while the main portion of the wire was under compression loads. The presence of the fatigue crack is indicative of an installation problem, such as overtorquing of the set screw. The fracture of this cable would not allow the pilot to properly set the mixture from the cockpit control to the carburetor.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a loss of engine power due to the fatigue fracture and separation of the mixture control cable. The fatigue crack resulted from inadequate installation techniques by unknown maintenance personnel.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/7/2005
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 901
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Tucson
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85706
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 320654N
Event Location Longitude 1105628W
Event Location Airport Tucson International
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TUS
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 2643
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 913 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID TUS
Elevation of weather observation facility 2643
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19751
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 7 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 30 2006 1:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SDL-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N2388Q
NTSB Number LAX05LA159
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 Beech
Aircraft Model 23
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number M-459
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Sep 1 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 80.4
Airframe Hours 950.6
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Ron Limbaugh
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Tucson
Aircraft Owner State AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85749
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 TUS
Departure City Tucson
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 855
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code MZJ
Destination City Pinal Airpark
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 22 2006 6:24PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 11L
Runway Length 10996
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --