Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Livermore, California 94550
Thursday, February 18, 1999 16:40 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said he was in normal cruise flight when the 200-hour since new Lycoming AEIO-540 engine began to over speed. The pilot said a roughness, which progressively worsened, was associated with the onset of the over speed event. He stated that he was unsuccessful in regaining control of the engine and initiated a power-off forced landing to a clear area next to a highway. The aircraft touched down in soft, muddy soil and the landing gear was torn out of the structure. Cracks were found across the rear of the engine case between the Nos. 5 and 6 cylinders. Disassembly of the engine revealed that one of the two counterweight rollers had become dislodged from the corresponding counterweight crankshaft lug bore and precipitated a catastrophic internal failure of the No. 6 connecting rod. Detailed examination of the separated counterweight crankshaft lug bore revealed rotational scoring around the inside diameter of the hole, while the roller bushing was broken in two pieces and displayed rotational scoring marks around the outside diameter. The designed bushing to bore clearance provides for an interference fit. The problematic lug bore was measured for circularity, position, and diameter with respect to design specifications. The lug bore was found outside of acceptable tolerances in all areas. According to Textron Lycoming and the FAA, a small number of crankshafts by serial number where produced with the lug bore(s) misreamed to an out of round condition during that stage of the manufacturing process. The accident crankshaft by serial number was outside of the believed problem range.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The manufacturer's inadequate quality control procedures, which allowed an improperly manufactured crankshaft to be shipped, resulting in the separation of one counterweight from the crankshaft lug and the subsequent catastrophic internal failure of the engine.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/18/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1640 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | LIVERMORE |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 94550 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1653 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 80 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LVK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 397 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 6 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1237 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 18 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 10:03AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9ND |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA103 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ZIVKO AERONAUTICS |
| Aircraft Model | EDGE 540 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | EDGE 540 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0020 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 18 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 200 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NORMAN DEWIT AIR SHOWS, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 148 MAGNOLIA DRIVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ATHERTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94027 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TCY |
| Departure City | TRACY |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1620 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SQL |
| Destination City | SAN CARLOS |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 10 2001 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |