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Textron Aviation Beechcraft Beechjet 400 and Hawker 400XP series

Amy Wilder

An improperly routed elevator control cable led to a loss of elevator control that caused a Beech 400A to crash during an attempted takeoff at Arkansas’ Bentonville Municipal Airport/Louise M. Thaden Field (KVBT), according to a recently release NTSB&nbsp;<a href="https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/193801/pdf">final report</a>.&nbsp;Seven of the nine occupants were uninjured, while two sustained minor injuries.
The accident occurred on Feb. 14, 2024, when the Beechcraft (N660BA), operated under Part 91 by PDII LLC, was departing KVBT&nbsp;for a flight to Concord–Padgett Regional Airport (KJQF) in North Carolina. The pilot told investigators that the aircraft lifted off normally before the nose pitched down abruptly. The pilot attempted to apply back pressure, but said he felt a “snap” and no longer had control of the elevator.
After the airplane settled back onto the runway surface, the pilot applied maximum braking and thrust reverse, but the aircraft overran the departure end of the runway. While attempting to avoid colliding with a nearby gas station, the pilot made a hard left turn, causing the right main landing gear to collapse and substantially damaging the right wing.
A post-accident examination showed that the airplane’s elevator control cable had fractured near the aft fuselage where it transitioned at a pulley bracket. Metallurgical analysis found that nearly all of the cable wires, the guard pin, and the pulley exhibited rubbing damage, scratching, and stray wires in the pulley consistent with chafing against the pulley assembly’s upper guard pin.
Maintenance records showed that the elevator cables had been replaced approximately a year before the accident, with about 316.5 flight-hours accumulated since that work. Investigators concluded that the cable was incorrectly routed over the guard pin during maintenance, resulting in gradual abrasion and eventual failure under normal flight loads.
The 62-year-old pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with approximately 20,000 hours TT, including 2,000 hours in the Beechcraft 400A. The 23-year-old copilot held commercial and flight instructor certificates and had about 961 hours TT.
At the time of the accident, weather was VMC, with clear skies, 10 miles visibility, and winds from 210 degrees at nine knots gusting to 16 knots.
The NTSB cited “improper rigging of the elevator control cable,” which resulted in a loss of elevator control and a subsequent runway excursion, as the probable cause of the accident.

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In this article

Beechjet 400/Hawker 400XP

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