Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Auburn Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Auburn, California 95602
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 16:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Seconds after taking off, the pilot experienced a total loss of pitch control 30 to 50 feet above ground level. The airplane pitched uncontrollably upward, and the pilot aborted the climb. During the forced landing, the airplane impacted hard on the remaining available runway. An examination of the airplane's elevator control system revealed its push-pull control rod was broken in the empennage, with the fracture features indicative of fatigue. The control rod's adjacent end bearing was found seized; it would not pivot/rotate at its attachment location in the bell crank assembly. The bearing was corroded and devoid of lubrication. When the bearing seized, the attached control rod was bent and flexed repeatedly until failing in fatigue. In 1973 the FAA issued Airworthiness Directive number 73-21-01, which required recurring lubrication of all flight control systems at yearly intervals and 100 hours time in service to prevent corrosion in the flight control systems that might result in binding or seizure of the joints and loss of flight control. The accident airplane was manufactured in 1965, and its total time was 5,638 hours. Its last annual inspection had been performed 8 1/2 months and about 148 hours prior to the accident. Maintenance records indicated that the airplane had been operated 48 hours beyond the 100-hour limit without evidence of the requisite lubrication.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the fatigue failure of the elevator's control rod due to inadequate lubrication. Contributing factors were the inadequate maintenance and the owner-pilot's failure to comply with an airworthiness directive.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/20/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1645 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Auburn |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 95602 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385717N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1210454W |
| Event Location Airport | Auburn Municipal |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AUN |
| 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 | 1536 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1656 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AUN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1536 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.7 |
| 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) | 23135 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 20 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 31 2008 11:52AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Sacramento, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5577Q |
| NTSB Number | LAX06LA298 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2977 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 148 |
| Airframe Hours | 5638 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ronald W. Bennett |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Folsom |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95630 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Ronald W. Bennett |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Folsom |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95630 |
| 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 | AUN |
| Departure City | Auburn |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1645 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RAL |
| Destination City | RIVERSIDE |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2008 5:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 07 |
| Runway Length | 3700 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |