The jackscrew mechanism turns inside a gimbal nut, which moves it up and down to adjust the stabilizer. Some believe the metal shards found on the jackscrew of Flight 261 were the threads from inside the nut. If the threads were worn that badly, the jackscrew could have slipped inside the nut. The Washington Post reported wear on Flight 261's nut was found to go beyond even the extra built-in margin for safety. Way back at Sun 'n Fun '99, AVweb talked with FAA Administrator Jane Garvey about the problems created by a new FAA mandate forcing charity flight operators to take costly FAA-approved drug tests.
Many pilots donate their time for charity flights and ask only to be reimbursed for fuel.
When the rules changed, they were unable to fly unless they were willing to spend hundreds of dollars on FAA-approved drug tests. Despite what may have been her best intentions, it has taken months to muddle through the process. This past week, eight months after her Sun 'n Fun comments and more than five months after getting petitioned by several pilot organizations, the feds began handing out blanket approvals that exempt certain pilot groups from the drug-screening rules. NATA's flight school members will be able to give rides to the public at fly-ins and other events to promote aviation. Maybe, maybe not.