Leesburg Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Leesburg, Virginia 20175
Saturday, April 7, 2007 14:30 EDT

During the beginning of its takeoff roll, the aileron and rudder controls of a Cirrus SR20 jammed when the student pilot applied full right rudder while simultaneously applying full left aileron. No previous control problems had been reported to have occurred since the airplane was delivered new. Review of the incident airplane's maintenance records did not reveal any previous control problems or any re-rigging of its flight control system since delivery. At the time of the incident, the airplane had accumulated 509 total hours in service. Examination of the airplane revealed that with simultaneous full left aileron and full right rudder inputs, the rudder-aileron interconnect (RAI) arm captured the forward RAI bungee clamp, and locked the yaw and roll controls. The airplane was configured in accordance with the existing design, manufacturing and maintenance guidance and procedures. During the investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board was also notified of an occurrence of control interference with another SR-20, and instances of RAI bungee cord slippage through the bungee cord clamps, which could result in increased roll control input forces or adverse effects on the operation of the aileron trim system. Evidence indicated that the existing design and rigging guidance was insufficient to prevent control interference and clamp slippage. The manufacturer issued a mandatory service bulletin which changed the rigging procedures and RAI hardware. During the course of the investigation, the service bulletin was revised three times as safety information was garnered from airplane examinations and bungee testing. The Federal Aviation Administration also issued an airworthiness directive making the changes mandatory.

The airplane manufacturer's inadequate rudder-aileron interconnect rigging information. Contributing to the incident was the design of the rudder-aileron interconnect system.