Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Henderson-Oxford Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Oxford, North Carolina 27565
Saturday, September 13, 1997 12:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight, the pilot felt a vibration, which continued. Subsequently, oil began covering the windshield, and the engine lost power. The flight was vectored toward a nearby airport, but the pilot did not communicate his intentions of a forced landing over the correct UNICOM frequency. Due to an airplane ahead, he landed hard on the displaced portion of the runway. Several holes were noted in the crankcase near the Nos. 1 and 4 cylinders. Examination of the engine revealed that the connecting rods for the Nos. 1 and 4 cylinders had failed. Metallurgical examination of the failed components revealed high stress low cycle fatigue on the No. 4 rod. Also, galling was noted in critical areas on the Nos. 1, 2, and 4 connecting rods and/or caps. A service bulletin indicated that galling in critical areas could cause failure of connecting rods, and galling could occur as a result of high loading such as during engine overspeed or operation with excessive manifold pressure. The engine had been overhauled by the manufacturer and had accumulated about 1,252 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
fatigue failure of the No.4 connecting rod in an area where galling had occurred, which resulted in loss of engine power and a forced landing. Related factors were: the pilot's lack of communication by failing to select the proper UNICOM frequency; and his failure or inability to flare the airplane during the forced landing, while avoiding another airplane that was landing on the same runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/13/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | OXFORD |
| Event State | NORTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 27565 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | HENDERSON-OXFORD |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HNZ |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 527 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1151 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 212 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RDU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 436 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1470 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 13 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1257 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9385C |
| NTSB Number | MIA97LA243 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32RT-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32RT-30 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-7885046 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 3 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 120 |
| Airframe Hours | 5382 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES BILLINGS & MARK ASH |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1536 CARR ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | RALEIGH |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27608 |
| 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 | RDU |
| Departure City | RALEIGH |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1155 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | W66 |
| Destination City | WARRINGTON |
| Destination State | VA |
| 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 | 6 |
| Runway Length | 5002 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |