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BFO93LA074

1993-05-08 · TOWANDA, Pennsylvania, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport N27

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE FAILURE OF THE AILERON CONTROL CABLE WHICH RESULTED IN LOSS OF CONTROL IN FLIGHT.

Factual narrative

SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, THE LEFT AILERON CONTROL CABLE FAILED IN THE VICINITY OF THE RIGHT AFT DOOR POST IN THE LOCATION OF A PULLEY. THE PILOT STATED IT TOOK FULL RIGHT AILERON TO KEEP THE AIRPLANE FROM ROLLING. THE AIRPLANE REMAINED IN THE TRAFFIC PATTERN TO LAND. DURING THE BASE LEG, THE PILOT APPLIED FULL FLAPS. THE AIRPLANE CONTINUED TO ROLL LEFT AND THE AILERONS DID NOT RESPOND TO CONTROL INPUTS. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED THE GROUND LEFT WING DOWN AND CAME TO REST INVERTED. A METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE FAILED CABLE REVEALED THAT IT WAS CORRODED IN THE AREA OF THE FAILURE. THE AIRPLANE HAD RECEIVED A 100 HOUR ANNUAL INSPECTION ON OCTOBER 3, 1992. SINCE THE INSPECTION, THE AIRPLANE HAD FLOWN ABOUT ONE HOUR. THE AIRPLANE WAS TIED DOWN OUTSIDE FOR MOST OF THE TIME SINCE PURCHASED IN THE YEAR 1958. THE FAILED AILERON CONTROL CABLE WAS AN ORIGINAL CABLE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1993_BFO93LA074.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). All research papers