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BFO85IA050

1985-06-02 · CHANTILLY, Virginia, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport IAD

N106WA has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (WHEELER AUTOMATED AVIATION LLC SKYH), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

AFTER CLIMBING UP TO AND LEVELING OFF AT 37,000 FEET, THE CREW OF THE DC-10-30F NOTICED THAT THE YORK CONTROL OF THE CAPTAIN AND THE FIRST OFFICER MOVED LATERALLY INDEPENDENTLY OF EACH OTHER FOR APPROXIMATELY TWO INCHES. AFTER MAKING AN UNSCHEDULED UNEVENTFUL LANDING AT DULLES THE LEFT AILERON CABLE TENSION REGULATOR ASSEMBLY WAS FOUND TO HAVE A DECREASE IN CABLE TENSION. AFTER LUBRICATION, THE UNIT JUMPED TO A POSITION WHICH PROVIDED PROPER CABLE TENSION BETWEEN THE CONTROL WHEEL AND THE AILERON CONTROL LOOP. THE OPERATOR CHANGED THEIR LUBRICATION PROGRAM ON THE ASSEMBLIES FROM 'ON CONDITION' TO EVERY 2500 HOURS WHICH EQUATES TO MORE THAN ONCE A YEAR. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_BFO85IA050.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.