Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sterling Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sterling, Massachusetts 01564
Sunday, November 14, 1993 10:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT REPORTED THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS AT 2000 FEET MSL WHEN A SEVERE VIBRATION DEVELOPED ON THE AIRPLANE. HE STATED THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS DESCENDING AT 200 FEET PER MINUTE WITH THE THROTTLE FULL FORWARD, AND 1700 RPM ON HIS GAGE. HE STATED THAT THE NEAREST AIRPORT WAS ABOUT 6 MILES AWAY, SO HE RADIOED THE AIRPORT OF HIS SITUATION AND ENTERED THE TRAFFIC PATTERN ON THE BASE LEG. HE STATED THAT HE WAS HIGH ON THE APPROACH, BUT HE RECALLED FROM HIS TRAINING THAT IT WAS BETTER TO BE HIGH AND FAST THAN LOW AND SLOW. THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT HALF WAY DOWN THE 3100 FOOT LONG RUNWAY AND EXITED INTO A SIX FOOT CULVERT WHERE IT NOSED OVER. AN EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE BY THE FAA REVEALED A LEAK WHEN A COMPRESSION TEST WAS COMPLETED. THE CYLINDER WAS REMOVED AND SENT TO THE NTSB LAB IN WASHINGTON, DC. A METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION REVEALED THE EXHAUST VALVE SEPARATED AS A RESULT OF FATIGUE CRACKING THAT INITIATED IN THE RADIUS BETWEEN THE STEM AND THE HEAD OF THE VALVE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
SEPARATION OF THE NUMBER ONE EXHAUST VALVE DUE TO FATIGUE CRACKING WHICH RESULTED IN LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. OTHER RELATED FACTORS WERE MISJUDGMENT OF ALTITUDE AND AIRSPEED BY THE PILOT RESULTING IN ON GROUND COLLISION WITH THE TERRAIN AND SUBSEQUENT NOSE OVER.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/14/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | STERLING |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 01564 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | STERLING |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 3B3 |
| 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 | 459 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1149 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 459 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 19 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 4 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1941 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 14 1993 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 1:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N28215 |
| NTSB Number | BFO94LA010 |
| 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 | GULFSTREAM AMERICAN |
| Aircraft Model | AA-5B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AA-5B |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA5B-0941 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Oct 4 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 13 |
| Airframe Hours | 1300 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JAMES CONNELY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 51 APPLE RIDGE RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | MAYNARD |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 01754 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | JAMES CONNELLY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 51 APPLE RIDGE RD. |
| Operator City | MAYNARD |
| Operator State | MA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 01754 |
| 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 | 6B6 |
| Departure City | STOW |
| Departure State | MA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 940 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| 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 | 16 |
| Runway Length | 3010 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |