Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ankeny Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ankeny, Iowa 50021
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 18:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that when he pulled back on the control yoke during the landing flare the nose of the airplane did not pitch up. The airplane landed hard on the nosewheel and bounced several times before stopping on the runway. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the stabilator control cable had fractured in two pieces. The location of the fracture was in the unobstructed area in the tail cone; the location of the fracture was not associated with a pulley, fairlead, or bulkhead, and no rubbing or chaffing was found in the area of the fracture. The entire length of the cable was covered with dried black grease and the majority of the fractured ends of the individual wires exhibited wear damage with the exposed surfaces of the wires covered in grease. The ends of the fractured wires exhibited features typical of overstress separation, with no evidence of fatigue cracking. Federal Aviation Administration guidance states that the inspection and repair of control cables should be accomplished during annual inspections. The aircraft maintenance logbooks indicated that the last annual maintenance inspection was conducted about three months prior to the accident, equating to 17 flight hours. The logbook entry for that inspection indicated that the control cables were checked for correct rigging and cable tensions. The logbook entry stated, “Stabilator OK.” There was no indication of any repair or replacement of the stabilator control cable.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the stabilator control cable due to wear. Contributing to the accident was the inadequate maintenance inspection of the stabilator control cable.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/9/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1820 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ankeny |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 50021 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414128N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0933359W |
| Event Location Airport | Ankeny Regional Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IKV |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 910 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 1800 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IKV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 903 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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) | 27901 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 18 2010 3:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N104NW |
| NTSB Number | CEN10LA312 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-34-220T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 34-8133059 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4773 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 19 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 7240 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MCLAUGHLIN JOHN H |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 420 |
| Aircraft Owner City | GLIDDEN |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 51443-0420 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | MCLAUGHLIN JOHN H |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 420 |
| Operator City | GLIDDEN |
| Operator State | IA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 51443-0420 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DTL |
| Departure City | Detroit Lakes |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1622 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | IKV |
| Destination City | Ankeny |
| Destination State | IA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 17 2010 1:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | silj |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |