Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Northeast Philadelphia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19114
Tuesady, August 18, 1992 5:58 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AT 6000 FEET MSL, WHILE IN CRUISE FLIGHT, A PROPELLER BLADE FROM THE LEFT PROPELLER ASSEMBLY SEPARATED IN-FLIGHT, PENETRATED THE FUSELAGE, BREAKING ELECTRICAL LINES AND CAUSING A LOSS OF ELECTRICAL POWER. AT THE TIME THE AIRPLANE WAS IN IMC, SO THE PILOT ELECTED TO TURN 180 DEGREES IN AN ATTEMPT TO FLY TO AN AREA OF BETTER WEATHER. HE FLEW WITHOUT ELECTRICAL POWER OR MOST OF THE INSTRUMENTS FOR ABOUT 40 MINUTES, UNTIL REACHING AN AREA OF CLEAR WEATHER. ONCE THE PILOT WAS ABLE TO IDENTIFY HIS LOCATION HE ELECTED TO MAKE A GEAR UP LANDING AT THE NEAREST AIRPORT. METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE SEPARATED BLADE REVEALED THAT THE SEPARATION OF THE BLADE WAS THE RESULT OF FATIGUE CRACKING THAT INITIATED FROM MULTIPLE SITES LOCATED AT CORROSION PITS IN THE BALANCING HOLE. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE CORROSION PITTING HAD NOT BEEN DETECTED DURING THE LAST OVERHAUL AND PROCEDURES TO SHOT PEEN AND PAINT THE BALANCING HOLE WERE NOT PERFORMED.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE IN-FLIGHT SEPARATION OF A PROPELLER BLADE AS A RESULT OF FATIGUE CRACKING INITIATED FROM MULTIPLE SITES LOCATED AT CORROSION PITS IN THE BALANCING HOLE. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE FAILURE TO DETECT THE CORROSION DURING THE LAST OVERHAUL PROCEDURE; AND A COMPLETE LOSS OF ELECTRICAL POWER AS RESULT OF THE SEPARATED BLADE BREAKING THE ELECTRICAL LINES.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/18/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 558 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | PHILADELPHIA |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19114 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PNE |
| 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 | 121 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 450 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PNE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 121 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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 | 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 606 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 18 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 48004 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 3:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N66LA |
| NTSB Number | NYC92LA166 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MITSUBISHI |
| Aircraft Model | MU-2-60 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | MU-2-60 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 792SA |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11575 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 10 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 90 |
| Airframe Hours | 4018 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EPPS AIR SERVICE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | DEKALB/PEECHTREE AIRPORT |
| Aircraft Owner City | ATLANTA |
| Aircraft Owner State | GA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 30341 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | EPPS AIR SERVICE |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | DEKALB/PEECHTREE AIRPORT |
| Operator City | ATLANTA |
| Operator State | GA |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 30341 |
| Operator Code | |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | TEB |
| Departure City | TETERBORO |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 402 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BKL |
| Destination City | CLEVELAND |
| Destination State | OH |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| 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 | 6 |
| Runway Length | 7000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |