Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Syracuse Hancock Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Syracuse, New York 13201
Monday, May 4, 1998 9:25 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After takeoff, the pilot heard a 'loud bang' followed by severe vibration. The pilot returned and landed at the departure airport without further incident. Examination revealed the left engine's number two propeller counterweight had separated, and exited through the propeller spinner. The counterweight then impacted the number one propeller blade, of the left engine, which separated about 12 inches from the hub. Examination of the counterweight clamp leading edge bolt hole revealed that the internal threads in the hole were stripped by motion of the leading edge bolt out of the hole. Additionally, the hole contained a double set of thread roots, indicative of cross threading of a bolt or mistapping of the threads. The propeller counterweight bolts had been replaced during an overhaul performed by the propeller manufacturer on April 12, 1995. The propeller counterweight bolts were also replaced by a certified propeller repair station, during maintenance on April 8, 1996, and at the last overhaul, which was performed on January 28, 1997. According to the propeller overhaul manual, after removal of a counterweight clamp bolt, an undersized tap should be used to remove the loctite retaining compound which was to be applied to the counterweight clamp threads during installation. The manual also stated '...Visually inspect threads for damage. Cross threading, damaged or missing threads is cause for retirement of the clamp.' A representative from the propeller repair station stated that their mechanics use a compressed air plastic bead spray to clean the clamp threads and they do not use an undersized tap. According to the propeller manufacturer, the use of a compressed air plastic bead spray to clean the propeller counterweight clamp threads was not an approved procedure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Improper maintenance which resulted in a cross threaded\ mistapped counterweight bolt hole, and the subsequent failure of the propeller counterweight clamp assembly. Also causal was the inadequate inspection of the counterweight clamp threads by maintenance personnel which failed to detect the damaged counterweight threads.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 5/4/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 925 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SYRACUSE |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 13201 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SYRACUSE HANCOCK INT'L |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SYR |
| 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 | 421 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 954 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SYR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 421 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| 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 | 14 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5027 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 5 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 450 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:23AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N832CA |
| NTSB Number | NYC98IA106 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 1900D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 1900D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | UE-22 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 16950 |
| 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 | 18 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 23 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 31 |
| Airframe Hours | 10869 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CHAMPLAIN ENTERPRISES INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 518 RUGAR STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | PLATTSBURGH |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 12901 |
| 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 | JJBA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SYR |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BOS |
| Destination City | BOSTON |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 10 |
| Runway Length | 9003 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |