N446PA
Registered owner: HILLSBORO AERO ACADEMY LLC, OR (owner ≠ operator)
Operators of this aircraft
Who operated this tail, and how firmly we know it.
| Operator | Role | Period | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAN AMERICAN WORLD AWYS INC. | Operator | on 1974-04-22 | Operator named in NTSB report |
Accident & incident history
Operated by PAN AMERICAN WORLD AWYS INC. (per NTSB report)
Maintenance disclosures
Service Difficulty Reports filed with the FAA for this airframe. Filing is largely voluntary — the number of reports is not a measure of reliability. To verify a report, search its control number at the FAA SDRS site.
4 reports on file, 2009-10-28 – 2021-05-20.
Part: CONTROL CABLE — FRAYED (FLAP SYSTEM) · airframe 10,566 hrs
FLAP CONTROL CABLE FOUND FRAYED AT BASE OF TURNBUCKLE ATTACH FITTING.
Part: WIRE — BROKEN (DOWNLOCK SWITCH) · airframe 6,769 hrs
DURING PREFLIGHT, THE PILOT NOTED THE RT MLG DOWNLOCK SWITCH HAD A BROKEN WIRE. MAINTENANCE REPLACED THE SWITCH. FURTHER INSPECTION OF THE FAILED SWITCH REVEALED IT HAD 3 OF 12 WIRES BROKEN. HAD THE ISSUE NOT BEEN DISCOVERED ON PREFLIGHT, THE SWITCH WOULD HAVE PROVIDED AND INTERMITTENT OR NONEXITENT GEAR DOWN-AND-LOCKED INDICATION. THIS REPAIR STATION HAS SEEN NUMEROUS FAILURES OF THIS SWITCH, SOME OF WHICH RESULTED IN INCORRECT GEAR INDICATIONS AND EMERGENCY LANDINGS. THESE SWITCHES HAVE A WIRING HARNESS COVERED IN THICK SHRINK WRAP THAT ENCOURAGES THE WIRES TO FLEX IN ONE SMALL AREA NEAR THE SWITCH BODY. THE SHRINK WRAP AND SILICONE ON THE HARNESS ALSO MAKE IT EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO SEE ANY DAMAGE OR DEFECTS WITH THE WIRES, SO EVEN DILIGENT INSPECTION MAY NOT DETECT A BROKEN WIRE.
Part: PUMP — MALFUNCTIONED (ZONE 600)
DURING CLIMBOUT, THE PILOTS NOTED THE RT FUEL PRESSURE WAS AT REDLINE, 8 PSI, TURNING THE ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP OFF LOWERED THE PRESSURE INTO THE GREEN ARC. THE ACFT RETURNED TO THE AIRPORT. WITH THE AID OF A SECONDARY, CALIBRATED PRESSURE GAUGE, MAINTENANCE FOUND THAT THE GAUGE WAS INDICATING CORRECTLY, AND THE ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP WAS PRODUCING ABNORMALLY HIGH PRESSURE. THE ELECTRIC FUEL PUMP WAS REPLACED AND NO FURTHER DEFECTS WERE NOTED.
Part: WIRE HARNESS — BROKEN (DOWNLOCK SWITCH) · airframe 4,430 hrs
LT MLG WIRING HARNESS WIRES ON DOWN LOCK SWITCH BROKE AT SWITCH CAUSING AN INDICATION OF UNSAFE GEAR.