Piper PA28 N40831

Summary

On 9 November 2021 at about 21:05 local time, a Piper PA28 registered N40831, operated by Cirrus Aviation Inc, was involved in an accident near Sarasota, Florida, United States. One person was 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

9 November 2021 at 21:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Sarasota, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Sarasota/Bradenton Intl (SRQ)

Coordinates

27.4047, -82.5856

Aircraft

Piper PA28

Registration

N40831

Category

Airplane

Year built

1973

Engines

1

Operator

Cirrus Aviation Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sebring → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA22LA054

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power due to a failed throttle cable.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was turning from downwind to base in the traffic pattern, with 10° flap extension, when he noticed that the throttle lever was stuck with the engine operating at 2,000 rpm. He turned onto final approach with 25° flap extension and realized that the descent rate was too great and that the airplane was not going to make it to the runway. He retracted the flaps to 0° to reduce drag, turned right to avoid houses at the approach end of the runway, and landed the airplane in an adjacent bay. Metallurgical examination of the throttle cable revealed a worn Teflon liner. When intact, the liner supported the inner cable and prevented metal-to-metal contact with the helical coil of the cable housing. Six of the seven wires of the inner cable had separated due to metal-to-metal contact wear. The seventh (single central) wire did not have the capacity to resist compressive and torsional loading of the cable, which led to collapse and torsional unfurling of the cable. The airplane was manufactured 48 years before the accident and had accrued about 14,000 hours of operation. There were no life-limited components on the make and model airplane and no requirement to replace the throttle cable at a scheduled interval. Review of maintenance records dating back 2 years before the accident did not reveal any problems with the throttle.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.