Jefferson City Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Jefferson City, Missouri 65107
Thursday, May 27, 1999 18:26 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane impacted the ground in a nose low, inverted attitude. The pilot reported, 'Jeff Tower, N34TM, I've just lost power on the right engine, eh, left engine.' The airplane's altitude was approximately 200 to 400 feet when the airplane's wings wobbled back and forth. The airplane's wings banked approximately 90 degrees to the left, and then the airplane nosed over and impacted the ground. White smoke was seen coming from the belly of the airplane for 1 to 2 seconds about 20 seconds prior to it impacting the ground. The terrain was a flat, hard packed field used for growing grass sod. Both the left and right propellers were found 12 to 18 inches under the hard packed soil. Rotational paint transfer patterns from the propeller blades onto the hard packed soil were evident. The left and right propeller blades exhibited chordwise scratching and leading edge polishing. The #2 cylinder piston was broken and the piston pin was still attached to the piston rod. The NTSB Materials Laboratory examination revealed the fracture face of the #2 exhaust valve stem was consistent with a bending fatigue separation. Both #2 and #6 exhaust valve guides showed heavy wear that ovalized the bores. The annual inspection conducted on March 15, 1999, indicated the compression on the left engine was 80/64, 50, 67, 70, 69, and 62.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot failed to maintain control of the airplane. A factor was the partial loss of power due to the exhaust valve fatigue failure.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/27/1999
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1826
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City JEFFERSON CITY
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 65107
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport JEFFERSON CITY MEMORIAL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID JEF
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 2
Degrees magnetic from airport 324
Airport Elevation 549
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 145
Weather Observation Facility ID JEF
Elevation of weather observation facility 549
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 1523
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 4
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1382
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date May 27 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2100
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Aug 14 2001 3:46PM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N34TM
NTSB Number CHI99FA163
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion Ground
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 421B
Aircraft Series Identifier 421B
Aircraft Serial Number 421B-0965
Certified Max Gross Weight 7450
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 8
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 15 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 35
Airframe Hours 5530
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ROBERT E. LINVILLE
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1500 TIMBER TRAIL
Aircraft Owner City JEFFERSON CITY
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 65107
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code POF
Departure City POPLAR BLUFF
Departure State MO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1730
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code JEF
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
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 12
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --