Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Greenville Downtown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greenville, South Carolina 29607
Monday, June 1, 2009 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was "returning the airplane to service," following a maintenance inspection. No anomalies were noted during the preflight inspection, engine start, taxi, run-up, and takeoff roll. As the airplane became airborne, the pilot noticed that the elevator control felt "loose," with about 1/2 inch of "play." The pilot proceeded to an area west of the airport, where the he performed in-fight checks uneventfully. As the airplane was returning to the airport, on short final approach, the pilot reduced the throttle to idle power for landing. Subsequently, about 25 feet above the ground, the nose pitched down. The pilot tried to pull back on the control yoke to flare, but the elevator control was stuck in the mid-range position. The airplane touched down on the nose gear and bounced back up into the air. The sudden jolt of the touchdown seemed to free the elevator control and the pilot was able to complete a normal landing. As the pilot taxied from the runway, he was able to duplicate the control jam. The operator noted that the pitch trim cartridge control rod felt "gritty" when actuated by hand. The operator subsequently reported that the anomaly did not reoccur after the pitch trim cartridge was removed and replaced. In addition, the operator did not report any work performed on the pitch trim cartridge during the recent maintenance inspection. Further examination of the airplane's pitch trim cartridge revealed some corrosion and black grease residue present; however, there was no conclusive evidence found to support a flight control jam.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A pitch control malfunction for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 6/1/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Greenville |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29607 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345053N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0822100W |
| Event Location Airport | Greenville Downtown Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GMU |
| 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 | 1048 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GMU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1006 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25919 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Operator |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 15 2009 2:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N695CD |
| NTSB Number | ERA09IA315 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CIRRUS DESIGN CORP |
| Aircraft Model | SR22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1372 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 31 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0 |
| Airframe Hours | 2562 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SATSAIR LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19899-0551 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SATSAIR LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | GREENVILLE |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29607 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GMU |
| Departure City | Greenville |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1430 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | GMU |
| Destination City | Greenville |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 24 2009 3:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | muzd |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 10 |
| Runway Length | 3998 |
| Runway Width | 80 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |