Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bixby, Oklahoma 74008
Friday, March 28, 1997 9:09 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he had just leveled off at 7,500 feet on a cross-country flight to Little Rock, Arkansas, when the engine started to 'shake violently.' The pilot attempted to return to his departure point, but the engine failed totally. The pilot performed a forced landing, but the airplane impacted a wire on final approach, which subsequently delayed the gear extension, causing the airplane to land with its gear in transit. Postcrash examination of the engine revealed that the number two rod bolt head was in 'relatively undamaged condition.' An FAA Inspector assigned to the accident stated that he believed that the rod bolt was 'either over torqued or under torqued during engine assembly which led to the bolt failure and the number two rod failure well before TBO.' According to the airplane's engine logbook and the pilot's flight log book, the engine had run approximately 604 hours, since being overhauled in August of 1991.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of a number two connecting rod bolt, possibly from being either over-torqued or under-torqued during installation, and failure of the pilot to see-and-avoid the transmission line, while performing a forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/28/1997
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 909
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City BIXBY
Event State OKLAHOMA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 74008
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 3
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 853 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID TUL
Elevation of weather observation facility 725
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 10
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 15000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
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) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 562
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Mar 31 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 748
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:10PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N166B
NTSB Number FTW97LA146
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 Beech
Aircraft Model G33
Aircraft Series Identifier G33
Aircraft Serial Number CD-1293
Certified Max Gross Weight 3400
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 27 1996 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 72
Airframe Hours 4132
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ML AIR, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4625 E. 59TH STREET
Aircraft Owner City TULSA
Aircraft Owner State OK
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 74135
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name DAVID H. LAUGHREY
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 2733 E. 51 ST., SUITE 220
Operator City TULSA
Operator State OK
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 74105
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 RVS
Departure City TULSA
Departure State OK
Departure Country
Departure Time 845
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code LIT
Destination City LITTLE ROCK
Destination State AR
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
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 --