The missing wing attachment bolt didn’t cause this accident but…
It gets better…
It is actually very rare for the UK CAA to do anything about a dodgy company.
You don’t need to be particularly competent with google to discover that the company has a bit of a “history” in the “interesting ways of operating” department.
In the UK at least, this is the tip of an iceberg, IME.
The main spar of a PA-28 would be able to carry flight loads, and as the report states, the aft spar attach being disconnected would have a minor affect on the attachment of the wing. However, with the pitching moment of the wing as a whole imposing a force in the pitching axis of the wing, which would vary in different conditions of flight, the slightest freedom of movement of the wing could introduce rather wild rolling of the aircraft – it takes a miniscule twist of a whole wing to introduce lots of roll.
Of course, rental pilots have a reasonable expectation of airworthiness, as things like this are beyond the scope of a preflight inspection. Airworthiness is regulated by the nation for the good of all, as individually, it’s usually to big a task…
I’m not sure this is specific for rental aircraft. It could also be poor maintenance. Our Pawnee used to tow gliders was maintained at the same shop for years. Then we changed to a smaller shop just cross the border to Sweden because we were not satisfied. The guy in Sweden was shocked to see that the horizontal tail and elevator were not properly stitched. It was stitched only around the edges, not along the “ribs”. While the Pawnee got some proper maintenance, we borrowed a Super Cub from another club. That Cub came directly from 50 or 100 hours from the same shop in Norway as the Pawnee used to be at. During pre-flight I saw that 6 out of 8 ignition plug lines were broken, only held in place by the inner yellow rubber stuff and the power line. The only way that could have happened were improper removal and replacement of ignition plugs, and in any case it should be fixed during maintenance. So much for EASA approved maintenance organizations.
Now we use a microlight for towing, and do all the maintenance ourselves.
