PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - PA-31 lost due to mis-installed trim tabs
Old 9th Dec 2021, 03:07
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India Four Two
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Manchester MAN
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There was a similar accident in 2015 in Spokane Washington, where a Malibu crashed on a post-maintenance test flight, because the right-wing aileron cables were mis-connected.

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/175978

What surprises me, apart from the lack of proper pre-flight control checks, is that the cables had identical connectors - a major design flaw.

The sections of the two interchanged cables within the wing were about equal lengths, used the same style and size of termination swages, and were installed into two same-shape and -size receptacles in the aileron sector wheel. In combination, this design most likely permitted the inadvertent interchange of the cables, without any obvious visual cues to maintenance personnel to suggest a misrouting. The maintenance manual contained specific and bold warnings concerning the potential for cable reversal.
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