Aeronca 7AC N3005E accident near Murray, Kentucky

Probable cause

The incorrect (reverse) rigging of the elevator cables by maintenance personnel and their subsequent failure to verify that the rigging was correct during post-maintenance checks and the pilot's inadequate preflight check.

NTSB analysis

The airplane had been in maintenance for repair work on the airplane’s tail section. On the first flight after the completed work, following a preflight inspection and engine run-up, the pilot taxied the airplane to the runway for departure. During the takeoff roll, when the pilot applied forward stick controls to raise the tail, the tail did not rise, and the airplane instead “shot straight up, stalled, then descended nose-first onto the runway.”

Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the fuselage. The inspector also noted that the elevator control cables were installed incorrectly such that the elevator moved in the direction opposite to that commanded.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA23LA002 for the full record.