The pilot, who told investigators that he remembered only portions of the accident due to his injuries, said that during takeoff from a remote, grass-covered site in Port Moller, Alaska, as the airplane accelerated, he recalled discovering that there was no elevator control when he moved the control yoke aft.
The Cessna 182 hit terrain, sustaining substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and vertical stabilizer.
The next thing the pilot, who was seriously injured, remembered was being upside-down in the airplane immediately after the accident.
After the accident, a camp helper told the pilot that due to windy conditions the prior evening, he had placed a large screw through the hole in the control yoke column, but he had forgotten to tell him.
The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection, which did not detect a screw in the control yoke column, and his failure to confirm flight control continuity before takeoff.
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This May 2022 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Boy, there sure are a lot of experts that never seem to make any mistakes on this thread. I’m so glad to know that you are out there gracing us with your knowledge! Thank you! Nothing better than commenting on somebody else’s mishap without having been there! You guys are the best!
I know— that smarmy know it all attitude. Hate it.
We all comment on these incidents so that we may not make the same error, miss a pre-flight item, miss a mid-flight action….don’t starve or run out of fuel, takeoff over gross, etc…
None of us will live long enough to make all these mistakes ourselves, and live to tell about them.
So, lighten up.!! some of us are serious pilots who are always learning.
‘knowledge is power’.
Part of every pre-flight is the ‘walk-around’, checking all the control surfaces.
When I walk to the tail, I raise the elevator to check the cable clevis attachments, and then grab both sections to check the torque tube .
If the control lock was in place, I could not raise the elevator…TA-DA !! caught it.!!
So, laziness, complacency, distraction….but a walk around should be done, especially the first flight of the day , and double important if the aircraft is outside somewhere overnight.!!
A couple of guys got killed in Santa Monica years back. They put a bolt in the guest lock. It was evening and they rolled down the runway and went off the end. Do you think this guy would’ve caught this by doing a walk around and checking free and clear even before he got into plane? I try to do it about three times just to be sure I don’t miss anything.
This is why the saying “Aviation is not inherently dangerous…” exists.
Accident don’t just happen. There is always a reason for them. Thankful to My Lord he wasn’t killed.
I’ve seen auto-pilot servos lock up in a way that locked controls and if it wasn’t for the pilot doing doing another full box turn prior to entering the runway it wouldn’t have revealed itself until trying to take off and turn.
Being a stupid pilot will get you every time,,,If a person doesn’t have the time to do a proper preflight, the odds are this type of end up will happen every time.. Very bad decision making !!
With 35,000 hours of flight time, I don’t think that he was ‘stupid’, but maybe a bit complacent and careless.
We’ve all missed an item or 2 on the pre-takeoff checklist.
I’m thankful that the pilot was ok.
I read this not so long ago: “Low time pilots die because of inexperience, high-time pilots die because of complacency,” or something like that. Look at poor F-14 Snodgrass:
https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/video-shows-snodgrasss-plane-pitch-up-before-fatal-crash/
It all happens so very fast.
Everybody is a super armchair pilot when they are evaluating another pilot’s oversight/mistake, that’s what we do to prove we’re better and smarter than the poor schmuck we’re pointing a finger at. Just saying.
I was always in the habit of checking full travel of elev-ailerons and rudder before I ever started the aircraft right after a pre-flight inspection, that way if anything that i missed on my preflight I would catch it before startup.
My big question is,,why was a “camp helper” doing anything to the aircraft?
He is not an “a&p.” And I agree the pilot was neglecent in not doing a ” proper pre-flight” inspection. I agree check and verify!! A very hard lesson to learn.
Experience gives you the test, then teaches you the answer. It’s never a good idea to rush a pre-flight inspection. Once in the air it’s to late! Can’t pull over to the nearest cloud and get out to check!
You would think from all of these reports that pilots would get the “hint” to be safe and take the time to do it “right and get it right” before the take off. There is no excuse for being lazy especially about flying.
The article says a “camp helper” not an A&P mechanic. Put the screw in the control lock. An A&P would have found the proper aircraft control lock to use…
It looks as though he should’ve been more concerned about the faulty nut in the pilots seat.
So, this 35,000 hr pilot is flying from the right seat, and from the pic there is no control yoke on the left side….weird.! Is that legal ?
And , as other have said, check that the controls are free and correct.
I’ve gotten to the point of checking freedom of controls again just before applying power for takeoff. Never know when there may be a delay for a variety of reasons after the pre-takeoff checklist is done which results in or requires that the pilot release the control wheel, resulting in the control lock being re-installed as a precaution because of weather conditions.
Effectively a case of sabotage.
What’s a nail in the yoke among friends? That pilot needs to get himself a good lawyer to go after that mechanic. Lucky he wasn’t killed. A case of gross negligence. Pilot’s failure to conduct a thorough pre-flight control check doesn’t mitigate the mechanic’s ‘oops.’ How about driving out of the shop after a brake job and pushing the brake pedal to the floor because the mechanic failed to bleed the brake lines? Oops. Moral of the story: “Trust but verify.” Then don’t trust anybody; see for yourself.
/J
James, Stupidity is why you now have to step on the brakes to shift a car out of park these days. If the pedal goes to the floor don’t try to drive it.
Not to say I wouldn’t have thought … but look over at the right side yoke … yeah I probably would have crashed too
Flight controls free and correct. Nope not today,
CONTROLS FREE and CORRECT
Yes, that part of the checklist needs to be set in LARGE TYPE. Kinda’ important!