SEATTLE — The National Transportation Safety Board investigating the crash of a seaplane last month off Whidbey Island on Monday said its experts identified a broken actuator that moves the plane’s horizontal tail that could potentially be the cause of the fatal accident that killed 10 people.
The actuator is the only means to hold the plane’s horizontal tail — also called the stabilizer — in its position.
Its separation “during flight would result in a free-floating horizontal stabilizer, allowing it to rotate uncontrollably … about its hinge, resulting in a possible loss of airplane control,” the NTSB update said.
