Piper PA 12 N3512M

Summary

On 2 July 2014 at about 16:20 local time, a Piper PA 12 registered N3512M was involved in an accident near Anchorage, Alaska, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 July 2014 at 16:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Merrill Field Airport (MRI)

Coordinates

61.2144, -149.8503

Aircraft

Piper PA 12

Registration

N3512M

Category

Airplane

Year built

1947

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Anchorage → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC14FA050

1 person died.

The incorrect (reverse) rigging of the elevator control cables, and the pilot’s inadequate preflight inspection, which failed to detect the misrigging.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The accident flight was the airplane's first flight after undergoing maintenance and modification over the course of several years. A witness reported that, during the takeoff, the airplane climbed steeply in an extreme, nose-high attitude until it "pivoted" at the apex of the climb and then entered a descent straight to the ground. The airplane's described motions are consistent with the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and entering an aerodynamic stall; crush damage to the nose of the airplane and the leading edges of the wings was consistent with a nearly vertical flight path at the time of impact. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the airplane's elevator control cables were misrigged, such that they were attached to the incorrect (opposite) locations on the upper and lower elevator control horn, resulting in a reversal of elevator control inputs. Maintenance logs for the airplane contained no entries more recent than 2007. Several people reported that the pilot often performed maintenance on the airplane; however, none indicated knowledge of who performed maintenance on the elevator controls. A "BEFORE TAKEOFF" checklist for the airplane included the item, "CONTROLS – FREE AND CORRECT." If the pilot had checked the elevator for correct motion before takeoff, he likely would have discovered that it was misrigged.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.