Cessna 152 N24779

Summary

On 11 April 2005 at about 17:08 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N24779, operated by Sporty's Academy, was involved in an accident near Williamsburg, Ohio, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

11 April 2005 at 17:08

Classification

Accident

Location

Williamsburg, Ohio, United States

Coordinates

39.0186, -84.0039

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N24779

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Sporty's Academy

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Batavia → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC05FA069

2 people died.

An improperly installed rudder bumper, which resulted in a rudder jam during spin training and subsequent uncontrolled descent into terrain. A factor was the operator did not comply with the service bulletin.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The certificated flight instructor and student pilot were practicing spins about 3,000 feet agl, and did not recover. The airplane subsequently descended in a nose down spiral, and impacted a field. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the rudder was jammed beyond its left travel limit. Further examination revealed that the two rudder bumpers had been installed inverted, and the right side rudder bumper had traveled over and beyond the rudder stop, and locked behind it. Review of the maintenance records revealed no specific mention of the rudder bumpers during the 28-year history of the airplane. However, work had been performed near the rudder bumpers on several occasions. Additionally, the paint on the inverted rudder bumpers was consistent with a paint job completed about 8 years prior to the accident. The investigation could not determine if the rudder bumpers were inverted at the time of production, or if they had been inverted during the maintenance history of the airplane. The airplane manufacturer issued a service bulletin about 3 1/2 years prior to the accident. The purpose of the service bulletin was to provide an enhanced rudder stop, bumper, doubler and attachment hardware designed to assist in preventing the possibility of the rudder overriding the stop bolt during full left or right operation of the rudder. Specifically, the new rudder stop was much larger than the original rudder stop. The service bulletin had not been complied with on the accident airplane, and under 14 CFR Part 91, was not required.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.