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DEN90FA066 · Piper PA-31-350

21 Feb 1990 · Greeley, CO, United States

Beegles Aircraft Services Piper PA-31-350 · Accident: loss of control in flight during initial climb

From Greeley–Weld County Airport (GXY) to Greeley–Weld County Airport (GXY)

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Event

NTSB case
DEN90FA066
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Piper PA-31-350

Aircraft type
Piper PA-31
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N3554P
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Greeley–Weld County Airport (GXY)To Greeley–Weld County Airport (GXY)
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Initial climb
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Loss of control in flight
Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
Stall
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Flt control syst, aileron control cable/rod
  • Manufacturer › Acft/equip, inadequate aircraft manuals
  • Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, inspection, inadequate
  • Other maintenance personnel › Maintenance, installation, improper
  • Pilot in command › Aircraft control, not possible
  • Pilot in command › Aircraft preflight, inadequate

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

N3554P WAS ON A MAINTENANCE TEST FLIGHT AFTER THE RIGHT WING WAS REPAIRED. THE PILOT LOST CONTROL OF THE AIRPLANE SHORTLY AFTER LIFTOFF AND WAS UNABLE TO REGAIN CONTROL PRIOR TO THE GROUND IMPACT. THE A&P MECHANIC WHO PERFORMED THE REPAIRS, RE ASSEMBLED THE RIGHT WING AILERON CONTROL CABLES PER THE PIPER SERVICE MANUAL. POST ACCIDENT EXAMINATION OF THE AILERON CONTROL SYSTEM REVEALED THE RIGHT WING CONTROL CABLES WERE REVERSED ON THE AILERON BELLCRANK, RESULTING IN BOTH AILERONS MOVING THE SAME DIRECTION (EITHER UP OR DOWN) WHEN THE CONTROL WHEEL WAS TURNED LEFT OR RIGHT.

Probable cause

THE IMPROPER IDENTIFICATION OF PARTS IN THE PIPER PA-31-350 SERVICE MANUAL PERTAINING TO THE AILERON CABLES. THIS DISCREPANCY RESULTED IN THE IMPROPER INSTALLATION OF THE AILERON CABLES ON THE RIGHT AILERON BELLCRANK BY A MECHANIC DURING THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE RIGHT WING. THE IMPROPER CONNECTION RESULTED IN A LOSS OF AIRCRAFT CONTROL BY THE PILOT IMMEDIATELY AFTER TAKEOFF. ALSO CAUSAL TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE INADEQUATE INSPECTION OF THE FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM BY A SECOND MECHANIC WITH INSPECTION AUTHORIZATION, AND THE INADEQUATE PREFLIGHT INSPECTION OF THE FLIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM BY THE PILOT PRIOR TO TAKEOFF.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record DEN90FA066
Event ID
20001212X22543
Case number
DEN90FA066
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 93b59340ee2a787efb23f88ab71660e4d7589acc635e1c2d6aff127a56796750; retrieved 2026-09-21T15:44:53.517Z.