Alert Results From An Accident That Occurred On May 27, 2018 In Houston, TX

The FAA's Chicago Aircraft Certification Branch has posted an Aviation Maintenance Alert for Cirrus SR20 and SR22 Aircraft.

This Alert results from an accident that occurred on May 27, 2018 in Houston, Texas where a SR-20 airplane crashed shortly after takeoff.The pilot reported that he could not maintain roll control of the airplane immediately after takeoff. The airplane began to roll to the left. The pilot was able to counteract with right aileron input initially, but the airplane continued to roll to the left. The pilot continued to use right aileron and trim, lowered the nose, and executed a straight-in forced landing just beyond the departure end of the runway. Examination of the airplane after the accident revealed that the left aileron actuation arm and attach bolt were missing with no associated impact damage. Further investigation indicated that the safety wire was missing from the actuation bolt.

As the bolt is readily visible during a walk around inspection, the FAA recommends that all owners and operators visually verify the presence of the required safety wire before further flight. If safety wire is not present, have a qualified maintenance provider correct the situation before further flight.

In addition, Cirrus aircraft will be updating their recommended pilot preflight walk around to better define the examination of the Aileron area and the maintenance manuals to emphasize the requirement of proper safety wiring the associated hardware. The FAA recommended that all operators adopt the new manual practices and revisions.

(Source: FAA. Image provided)

FMI: www.faasafety.gov/files/gslac/library/documents/2019/Mar/189155/Aviation%20Maintenance%20Alert%20%20%20Cirrus%20SR20%20and%2022%20Aircraft.pdf