<p><strong><font color = "blue">Cessna: 150—337 <em>(see list </em>); Cracked Control Wheel; ATA 2701</font> </strong></p>
<p><em>(The following safety article is published as received from the Wichita, Aircraft Certification Office. Specified models include 150, 172, P172, 175, 180, 182, 205, 206, 210, 336, and 337.) Contact information is found at discussion's end.)</em></p>
<p>“The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recently sent a safety recommendation to the FAA regarding cracks and failures of plastic control wheels on Cessna single-engine airplanes. The recommendation was due to a non-injury airplane accident in Colorado on a 1962 Cessna 205 in 2004 that resulted in damage to the firewall, propeller, and wing strut. The pilot reported that the control wheel fractured during the landing flare. The NTSB recommends that the FAA ‘Require recurrent inspection of part number 0513166 series control wheels in applicable Cessna airplanes for cracks, with specific emphasis on the inside upper corners where fatigue cracking has been found and replacement of the control wheels if any cracks are detected.'</p>
<p>“FAA Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) CE-01-41-R1 states in the recommendation: ‘The FAA recommends that owners, operators and maintenance technicians place special emphasis on the periodic 100 hour and annual inspections on plastic control wheels installed in these airplane models until they are replaced with metallic control wheels. See Cessna SL No. 64-8, dated February 14, 1964, for airplane Model and Serial Numbers. If the indication of cracking is unclear, we recommend that you proof test the wheel in accordance with Cessna SL No. 64-8. However, the pull force may be reduced to 30 pounds rather than the 50 pounds as stated in the service letter. If replacement is required because of the failure of the control wheel due to this pull force, then it is to be replaced with a metallic control wheel, as specified in the service letter.'</p>
<p>“In the past 32 years, 16 occurrences of cracks or failures of P/N 0513166 control wheels were found in the Service Difficulty Report (SDR) database. Also, 5 occurrences were found for P/N 051367, 13 occurrences were found for P/N 0513168, and 10 occurrences were found for ‘control wheel' without a part number. Thus, a total of 44 occurrences were found.” </p>