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A Q400 flight crew felt an abnormal aileron bump or catch which was recorded in the maintenance log. Maintenance subsequently discovered a frayed wire bundle with single aileron control cable strand remaining.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1101565 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201307 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Q400 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Aileron Control System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
After arriving we wrote up the aircraft for being misrigged and a slight 'bump' or catch while doing the roll control check. I later checked with maintenance and saw a photo of what had happened. The aileron control cable was frayed to one strand of wire and left a large 'bird's nest' of wire was built up on the cable. If the strand of wire had snapped there would be no aileron control and no checklist for the emergency. The ailerons most likely would have floated to the up position and acted like spoilers deployed in flight - a grave emergency. I spoke to the mechanic about the write up and asked if bombardier was informed and he said they were. I later spoke to the captain who did the test flight and he asked if bombardier was informed and maintenance said no it was normal (wink; wink). The purpose of this report is to make sure bombardier and the FAA know about the write up and can conduct an investigation or inspections as needed. It could be poor maintenance; poor design; damage; etc.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Q400 flight crew felt an abnormal aileron bump or catch which was recorded in the maintenance log. Maintenance subsequently discovered a frayed wire bundle with single aileron control cable strand remaining.
Narrative: After arriving we wrote up the aircraft for being misrigged and a slight 'bump' or catch while doing the roll control check. I later checked with Maintenance and saw a photo of what had happened. The aileron control cable was frayed to one strand of wire and left a large 'bird's nest' of wire was built up on the cable. If the strand of wire had snapped there would be no aileron control and no checklist for the emergency. The ailerons most likely would have floated to the up position and acted like spoilers deployed in flight - a grave emergency. I spoke to the Mechanic about the write up and asked if Bombardier was informed and he said they were. I later spoke to the Captain who did the test flight and he asked if Bombardier was informed and Maintenance said no it was normal (wink; wink). The purpose of this report is to make sure Bombardier and the FAA know about the write up and can conduct an investigation or inspections as needed. It could be poor maintenance; poor design; damage; etc.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.