Cessna 185E N70020

Summary

On 31 July 2007 at about 23:30 local time, a Cessna 185E registered N70020 was involved in an accident near Talkeetna, Alaska, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 July 2007 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Talkeetna, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

62.2558, -149.9003

Aircraft

Cessna 185E

Registration

N70020

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Stephan Lake → Lake Hood

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC07LA071

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power during cruise flight due to an improperly repaired airbox.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The float-equipped airplane was being operated by the commercial pilot as a VFR cross-country flight in conjunction with his guiding service. The pilot said that he departed one lake en route to another, and about 20 minutes into the flight, the engine went to idle rpm. He said he pushed the throttle forward, and turned the airplane toward a lake, but the airplane descended into trees short of the lake. The airplane sustained extensive damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot said that there were no known mechanical problems with the airplane prior to the flight. The airplane was examined, and it was found that the support shaft for the throttle and mixture bell cranks was missing, which disconnected the throttle control and allowed the engine to go to idle. The air induction box assembly was examined by the NTSB investigator, and it was discovered that the air box had been repaired with incorrectly substituted parts. The air box (PN 1650012-1) was the correct air box; however, a weld repair had been performed around the shaft support bushings on both sides of the box. The correct solid shaft bushings had been replaced with earlier generation roller bearings. The inappropriate installation did not allow for the support shaft to be properly pinned in place, and did not allow for the redundant safety of the correct installation. The correct parts installation would preclude the support shaft from migrating out of the air box if either shaft end spacer were missing. An examination of the airplane's maintenance log books did not reveal any entries pertaining to the air box repair.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.