Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lynchburgh, Virginia 24501
Thursday, March 5, 1998 16:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly after takeoff, the pilot heard a loud bang, felt a thump, and saw the engine cowling deflect upward. He reduced engine power, and turned towards the departure airport. After a second loud bang, followed by severe vibration the pilot shut down the engine, and performed a forced landing to a field. Examination of the wreckage revealed two holes in the top of the engine crank case which were over 8 inches in diameter. One of the engine's number six cylinder connecting rod bolts showed signs of a catastrophic failure, the other number six connecting rod bolt was intact and did not contain a nut. Examination of the number six connecting rod, and connecting rod bolts revealed severe mechanical impact damage to the threads of the intact bolt. The broken bolt had three different fracture features. One was consistent with failure in shear, a second was consistent with a tensile overstress separation, and the majority of the third had a rubbed appearance. The connecting rod bolts and nuts had been replaced 375 hours before the accident flight. The last annual inspection of the airplane was performed about 16 months prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the number six connecting rod bolt due to improper maintenance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/5/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | LYNCHBURGH |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 24501 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| 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 | 1554 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LYH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 938 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 364 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 6 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 10:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1559X |
| NTSB Number | NYC98LA074 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | A36 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E2476 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3650 |
| 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 | Nov 12 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 202 |
| Airframe Hours | 325 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | E B K CORPORATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 2875 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ROCK HILL |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29732 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | LYH |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | INT |
| Destination City | WINSTON SALEM |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| 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 | -- |