Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rangeley, Maine 04970
Monday, September 12, 2005 9:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
With the autopilot engaged, and while climbing through approximately 5,000 feet msl, the pilot moved the heading bug 30 degrees to the right. The airplane then "sort of snapped with significant yaw," into a 60-degree right bank and lost about 1,800 feet of altitude. After recovering, the pilot continued to his destination. Examination of the airplane revealed that it was substantially damaged. Approximately five months prior to the accident, the autopilot system had been installed. Following the installation, the pilot experienced operational problems that included a "yaw problem" which began to worsen, but could not be duplicated by maintenance personnel. A postaccident examination of the autopilot and heading system also revealed no anomalies. Examination of the aft fuselage and tailcone revealed that the yaw damper was contaminated with oil. The source of the oil was an oil streak that ran from under the engine cowling aft along the belly of the airplane, and then up through the air conditioning exhaust vent. Two other airplanes which experienced yaw damper events were also examined, and oil contamination of the yaw damper amplifiers were identified.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A malfunction of the yaw damper system due to fluid contamination. Factors in the accident were the air condition exhaust vent design and the design stress limits of the airplane were exceeded.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/12/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rangeley |
| Event State | MAINE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 04970 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 444644N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0704722W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 952 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BML |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1161 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 33 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21091 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 19 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 26 2007 9:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Portland, ME |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N747AW |
| NTSB Number | IAD05LA138 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-46-500TP |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4697017 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4850 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 169.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 1227.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Sydney Aircraft Leasing LLC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| 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 | 8B0 |
| Departure City | Rangeley |
| Departure State | ME |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 915 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ABE |
| Destination City | Allentown |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 18 2007 6:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |