elevator missing - how?

JoeSelch

JoeSelch

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JoeSelch
How could this happen?
Did it fall off during takeoff? Was it not there when they fired up?

Code: 
IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 4584L        Make/Model: C421      Description: 421, Golden Eagle, Executive Commuter
  Date: 01/30/2007     Time: 1345

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Substantial

LOCATION
  City: BLACKFOOT   State: ID   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  ACFT ON DEPARTURE EXPERIENCED FLIGHT CONTROL PROBLEMS, RETURNED TO AIRPORT 
  AND LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT, INSPECTION REVEALED LEFT ELEVATOR MISSING, 
  BLACKFOOT, ID

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:    
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:    
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:    

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Pleasure      Phase: Take-off      Operation: OTHER

  Departed: IDAHO FALLS, ID             Dep Date:    Dep. Time:      
  Destination: AMERICAN FALLS, ID       Flt Plan:              Wx Briefing:  
  Last Radio Cont:  
  Last Clearance:  

  FAA FSDO: SALT LAKE CITY, UT  (NM07)            Entry date: 02/01/2007
 
I have no idea, but that pilot better have kissed the ground.
 
Holy wow! Good thing they were independent....

I actually do a light back and forth rock of the vertical stabilizers and visually check the pins on the elevators EVERY TIME I pre-flight.
 
Im pretty sure the 421 is one of the "do not push" type of elevators. also without a step ladder it could be tough to view the attachments.
 
thats been my impression nose, i believe most piper rudders are this way? Even if I am wrong, manually checking movement and hinge points would be a PIA on the 421, although still a damn good idea. One nice thing is when doing "controls free and correct" on the 421 you can look back through the side window and at least see the elevator on your side move.
 
Well the rudder in the cherokee is attached to the nosewheel steering gizmo (airplane pilot talk), which means that, sitting still on the ground there ain't no moving the rudder, unless you pick up the nosewheel. As I understand it. ;)
 
tonycondon said:
thats been my impression nose, i believe most piper rudders are this way? Even if I am wrong, manually checking movement and hinge points would be a PIA on the 421, although still a damn good idea. One nice thing is when doing "controls free and correct" on the 421 you can look back through the side window and at least see the elevator on your side move.
Click to expand...

I'm certainly in the check every accessible control surface fastener on every preflight camp. As Tom pointed out, the Piper rudder's attached to the nosewheel so that you can't do the entire range of movement without breaking something, but I still give it a gentle shove in each direction. I figure "Do Not Push" is very different from "Do Not Wiggle". If it breaks from me putting a few pounds of pressure on it, I don't want to fly in it. By giving it some pressure in each direction, I'll be able to feel if one cable has come loose internally or if the hinge is damaged in some way so that it flops around or clunks.

Chris
 
amen chris.

and im pretty much retarded. for some reason i had imagined that the elevator on the 421 is a lot higher than it is. definitely no problem inspecting hinges and attach points.
 
Pilot black box recording:


"Flight controls...Free and correct?"
"No.....just Free.":goofy:


Co-pilot looks over at pilot:
"Did you hear something?"
"Uh-huh."
"Funny...it's never done this before!" :dunno:
 
Or, it could be something slightly different....

[FONT=arial,helvetica,geneva]NTSB Seeks Lost Engine Debris [/FONT]
americawest_engine.jpg


If your travels will take you anytime soon into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the NTSB wants you to keep an eye open for stray GE CF34 engine pieces. On Jan. 25, an America West Express Bombardier regional jet en route from Denver to Phoenix was climbing through 24,000 feet when it experienced an uncontained engine failure. The left engine cowling, fan and other forward components separated over sparsely populated mountainous terrain in an area beginning just south of Woodland Park, Colo., and running south-southwest to 10 miles southwest of Cripple Creek. Anyone who finds debris shouldn't handle it but should contact the Teller County sheriff's department (719-687-9652) and relay the location, estimated size and description of the parts. The twinjet's flight crew declared an emergency and immediately returned and landed uneventfully at the Denver International Airport. There were 50 passengers and four crew on board, and nobody was hurt. The aircraft sustained minor damage to the fuselage, left engine pylon and tail section during the uncontained engine failure. A team is working to correlate radar records with data from the airplane's flight recorders in an effort to pinpoint the potential locations of the engine parts.
Click to expand...

Source: Avweb.com
 
tonycondon said:
amen chris.

and im pretty much retarded. for some reason i had imagined that the elevator on the 421 is a lot higher than it is. definitely no problem inspecting hinges and attach points.
Click to expand...

And while you're berating yourself, I'm pretty sure any "do not push" decals on the elevators mean don't try to move the airplane by applying force there (not a prohibition against moving the elevator).
 
hmmm ok lance. i guess i had always kind of though that was common sense that you cant move a 5000 lb aircraft through a hinged elevator.

pretty sure the Do Not Push on piper rudders are because the rudder is directly linked to the nosewheel, so you cant really move the rudder on the ground without turning the nosewheel, which would be pretty hard on the rudder.
 
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