A problem with the pitch trim control system may have played a part in the fatal Sept. 4 crash of a De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Turbine Otter into Mutiny Bay off the coast of Whidbey Island, Washington, U.S., the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says. The crash killed the pilot and all nine passengers.
In an investigative update issued on Monday, the NTSB said it had identified “a possible safety issue with a flight control” and added that the airplane’s horizontal stabilizer actuator, also known as the trim jack, was found in two pieces. The actuator separated at the point where the clamp nut threads into the barrel section, the NTSB said.
“Examination of the threads inside the barrel and the threads on the clamp nut revealed that the two components separated by unthreading as opposed to being pulled apart in tension,” the board said. “A circular wire loc…
