The floatplane that crashed in Mutiny Bay on Sept. 4 had been serviced three days before the crash, a new National Transportation Safety Board report shows.
www.seattletimes.com
9/16/22
The NTSB released a preliminary report on Friday describing details of the flight and plane, but stopping short of naming any potential cause of the crash, in which a seasoned pilot and nine passengers were killed in a sudden, puzzling plummet into Puget Sound. The plane had undergone a 100-hour inspection — a routine examination done every 100 flight hours — just three days before the incident.
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The NTSB announced Friday that it had secured the required work-class remote operated vehicles to begin recovering wreckage located over 150 feet below the surface last weekend. Those recovery efforts are set to begin on Sept. 26, more than three weeks after the crash.
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In Friday’s report, based largely on witness reports due to a lack of physical evidence, the NTSB noted “substantial” impact to the plane took place after a “near-vertical” nose dive into Puget Sound, just off Whidbey Island.
In the report, 911 calls and interviews after the crash, witnesses described the airplane as spinning on the way down and one reported hearing engine noise without any “pitch change” during the descent.
The plane most recently received 100-hour inspections on Aug. 16 and Sept. 1. During the September inspection, a left-hand rudder retract cable was replaced. In August, the horizontal stabilizer hinge bolts, a right-hand engine igniter and a left-hand float locker latch were replaced, according to the report.
In both August and September, inspections were completed of the control column lower assembly and elevator control tab, as required by Federal Aviation Administration Airworthiness Directives. The t [article cut here]
5 pg NTSB report at the link.
