Trinidad TB-20
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 17; Flight Crew Total 4000; Flight Crew Type 900
Other / Unknown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Inflight Shutdown; Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Declared Emergency; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
While on an IFR flight plan flying at 9;000 feet; my engine stopped responding to the throttle. Engine still running; I declared an emergency and received support from Approach to descend to land at a suitable airport. The Air Traffic Controller was excellent and provided outstanding assistance. Landing was safely accomplished after engine was shut down on short final. I called ATC on ground with number provided by controller in air to tell them I was down safely. They did not ask for any more information. After landing; a certified A&P Mechanic removed the aircraft cowl and discovered a bolt had fallen out of the throttle linkage. He replaced and reinstalled a new appropriate bolt and installed a cotter pin in the bolt. He inspected the rest of the linkages. We ops checked the engine and it worked perfectly. He certified it for flight and after I ground checked the engine; I re-filed my IFR flight plan and was on my way. Rest of the trip was uneventful. The date of my last annual; they installed a Lycoming Factory Remanufactured engine. The reason I am filing this report is that today I got an email from FAA Safety regarding similar problems on helicopters (problems with connectors). While I have no evidence the bolt was not installed correctly; I wanted to get this incident in your data base for our General Aviation Records.
TB20 pilot discovers failed throttle linkage at 9;000 feet and with ATC assistance a successful emergency landing is accomplished with the engine shut down on short final. A bolt was found to have fallen out of the throttle linkage. A rebuilt engine had been installed approximately eight months ago.