What happened
During the short final phase of flight, the crew of the aircraft noticed that the airplane had restricted up-elevator movement. In response to this control issue, the crew initiated a go-around. To manage the pitch for the subsequent landing attempt, the crew relied on power settings rather than elevator deflection. This resulted in an excessive descent rate and airspeed, which led to a hard landing.
The investigation
A post-incident examination of the aircraft revealed that a loose upper elevator stop bolt had made contact with a stringer, which prevented further movement of the control column. Maintenance records indicated that extensive work had been performed on the elevator quadrant sixteen flights prior to the accident. During that maintenance procedure, hardware was loosely installed on the quadrant to prevent loss. The investigation found that the position of a nut running down on the bolt closely resembled the appearance of a nut that had been properly torqued.