Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Tryon, Nebraska 69167
Thursday, December 31, 1998 10:50 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While in cruise flight the engine began to lose power. The pilot elected to conduct a forced landing on a roadway due to rough and hilly terrain. The landing was successful; however, during the rollout the right wing impacted a sign, and rotated into a ditch. Subsequent to the accident an examination of the airplane engine revealed #3 cylinder was loose and six cylinder base studs were fractured. The engine had accumulated a total time of 1,100 hours time in service and 31 hours since the last inspection.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

other maintenance personnel's not correcting a loose cylinder assembly. Factors were loose engine cylinder assembly, fractured cylinder mounting hardware, the roadway, and road sign.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/31/1998
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1050
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City TRYON
Event State NEBRASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 69167
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 12
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 1056 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 150
Weather Observation Facility ID LBF
Elevation of weather observation facility 2778
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 35
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 8000
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
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) 1094
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 31 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2001 1:55PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N333WS
NTSB Number CHI99LA057
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 Mooney
Aircraft Model M20E
Aircraft Series Identifier M20E
Aircraft Serial Number 323
Certified Max Gross Weight 2575
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 Sep 25 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 31
Airframe Hours 4632
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROGER D. SMITH
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3409 KERRY DR.
Aircraft Owner City RAPID CITY
Aircraft Owner State SD
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 57702
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 LBF
Departure City NORTH PLATTE
Departure State NE
Departure Country
Departure Time 1035
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code RAP
Destination City RAPID CITY
Destination State SD
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2001 1:55PM
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 --