Why Before-Takeoff Control Checks Are Important

Maintenance techs aren’t required to be pilots or aerodynamicists.

Peter Garrison

Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 10:40 PM ET

Verified

Spanish Fork, Utah Airport Runway Courtesy Spanish Fork Airport

Key Takeaways:

Aircraft control reversals, affecting both mechanical and fly-by-wire systems, have caused fatal accidents and severe incidents, consistently occurring immediately after maintenance.
These incidents were primarily due to maintenance errors, such as incorrectly assembled mechanical components or reversed electrical wiring, leading to inverted control surface responses.
A critical oversight was the failure of both maintenance personnel and flight crews to verify the *direction* of control surface movement during checks, highlighting the essential need for thorough directional confirmation to prevent such tragedies.

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On July 25, 2006, at Spanish Fork, Utah, the prototype of the Spectrum Model 33 business jet lifted off on a test flight. The 7,300-pound all-composite airplane, powered by two Williams FJ33 turbofans of 1,562 pounds of thrust each, had previously logged 44 hours in the course of 46 test flights before spending seven weeks on the ground for modifications to the main landing gear and the surrounding structure and systems.

Immediately after breaking ground, the airplane rolled to the right. The wing struck the ground and the airplane crashed, killing both pilots. Subsequent examination of the wreckage revealed that the aileron controls had been inadvertently installed in such a way as to reverse their operation.