Broken, Loose, Failed

The pilot was making a left turn in front of a hangar. He pulled the control wheel full aft to take the weight off the front wheel and the control wheel broke off in his hand. The break formed across the wheel, from the lower left to the upper right. Control wheel p/n: 0513168-2.

Editorial Staff

Monday, February 23, 2009 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Multiple aircraft experienced component failures, including a broken control wheel (Cessna 172A), a cracked nose gear drag link (Piper PA-44-180), and a broken main gear torque link (Piper PA28-140), often attributed to fatigue or exceeding service life.
A failed oil-cooler gasket (Cessna 210) was found to be brittle and improperly torqued, and several Cessna 172S/T206 aircraft had loose fuel-servo plugs, suggesting potential manufacturing or maintenance quality control issues.
Technicians frequently recommend more thorough visual inspections, specific retirement times for parts, or using higher-quality aftermarket components to enhance safety and prevent recurrences.

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Cessna 172A

Broken Control Wheel

Part Total Time: (unknown).

Cessna 210

Failed Oil-Cooler Gasket

An oil cooler adapter gasket failed in flight, causing two quarts of oil to be pumped into the engine cowling within an hour. The IO-520 was a factory remanufactured