Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gila Bend, Arizona 85337
Thursday, November 12, 1998 13:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that no engine discrepancies were noted during either the preflight or the initial cruise portion of the flight, and that all engine instrument readings were normal. Between 500 and 1,100 mean sea level, the engine suffered a significant loss of power accompanied by sputtering, vibration, and the rpm fluctuating. He declared an emergency, performed the emergency checklist with no changes, and made a forced landing on a road. During the landing rollout the airplane struck a road sign that he had not seen. Postaccident inspection of the engine revealed the gear at the back of the crankshaft was detached and moving freely between the corresponding gears. The crankshaft gear attaching bolt and threads were undamaged and the bolt appeared to have backed out of the crankshaft and was resting in the crankshaft gear bore. The bolt locking plate remained at the head of the bolt, and exhibited fretting signatures. Fretting signatures were also located around the mating surfaces of the gear and crankshaft bore. The crankshaft gear dowel pin had failed, with fatigue striations visible to the naked eye. An engine overhaul was completed 1 month after an airworthiness directive (AD) was published requiring inspection of the crankshaft gear and the bolt to prevent the bolt from backing out and liberating the crankshaft gear. No evidence of compliance with this AD was found in the engine maintenance records.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The crankshaft gear attach bolt loosening and backing out of its crankshaft bore, which led to the fatigue failure of the crankshaft gear dowel pin due to excessive working of the gear. The sequence of failures was the result of the engine overhaul shop's failure to comply with an Airworthiness Directive and the engine manufacturer's Service Bulletin.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/12/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | GILA BEND |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85337 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 40 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GBN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 778 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 90 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| 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) | 1935 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 13 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 927 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N991PK |
| NTSB Number | LAX99LA029 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-150 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-2369 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 20 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 30 |
| Airframe Hours | 4680 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JEFFREY ELDEN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 496 GARDNER ST. |
| Aircraft Owner City | EL CAJON |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92020 |
| 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 | MYF |
| Departure City | SAN DIEGO |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PHX |
| Destination City | PHOENIX |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| 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 | -- |