Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Superior Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Superior, Arizona 85273
Thursday, July 9, 1992 7:50 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE CERTIFICATED PRIVATE PILOT, THE SOLE OCCUPANT, WAS ON A CROSS COUNTRY BUSINESS FLIGHT WHEN THE ENGINE QUIT. THE PILOT MADE A FORCED LANDING ABOUT 250 FEET SHORT OF A DIRT AIRSTRIP. THE AIRPLANE WAS DESTROYED BY IMPACT AND A POST IMPACT FIRE, AND THE PILOT WAS FATALLY INJURED. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED A BROKEN CRANKSHAFT ON THE CRANKCHEEK ADJACENT TO THE NUMBER 1 CYLINDER. THE CRANKSHAFT HAD BEEN REPLACED 42 HOURS PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE CRANKSHAFT WAS SUPPLIED FROM AN ENGINE WITH AN ACCUMULATED TOTAL TIME OF ABOUT 1,000 HOURS OF OPERATION THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY SUSTAINED A SEPARATION OF THE NUMBER 1 CYLINDER FROM THE ENGINE CASE. AFTER AN INSPECTION, THE CRANKSHAFT WAS DETERMINED TO BE SERVICEABLE AND INSTALLED IN THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE'S ENGINE. METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION REVEALED A HIGH CYCLE FATIGUE FAILURE CONSISTENT WITH SURFACE INITIATED CRACKING. A METALLURGICAL REPORT INDICATED THAT SURFACE CRACKING WOULD NOT BE EXPECTED IN THE AREA OF FAILURE UNLESS PRIOR DAMAGE TO THE SURFACE HAD OCCURRED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
AN INADEQUATE MAJOR ENGINE OVERHAUL PROCEDURE, DURING WHICH PREVIOUS CRANKSHAFT DAMAGE WAS NOT DETECTED. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS A SURFACE INITIATED FATIGUE FAILURE OF THE ENGINE CRANKSHAFT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/9/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 750 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | SUPERIOR |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85273 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | SUPERIOR |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E81 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 58 |
| Airport Elevation | 2646 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 755 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IWA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1328 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 5000 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 3008 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 9 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 47449 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 3:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6483C |
| NTSB Number | LAX92FA289 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | T210N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | T210N |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21063900 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4000 |
| 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 | Mar 17 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 |
| Airframe Hours | 2894 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EDWARD CURTIS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2037 18TH STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | SAFFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85548 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | EDWARD CURTIS |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 2037 18TH STREET |
| Operator City | SAFFORD |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 85548 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SAD |
| Departure City | SAFFORD |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 720 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| 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 10:35AM |
| 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 | -- |