Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rising Sun, Maryland 21034
Sunday, June 20, 1999 21:44 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was in level flight at 4,000 feet, on a dark night, in instrument conditions, when the engine lost all power. The pilot performed a forced landing to a river. When the engine was examined, two holes were observed on the top of the engine crankcase. The heads of three connecting rod bolts and portions of a connecting rod bearing were recovered from the bottom of the oil sump pan. All of the main bearings, with the exception of the number four and five main bearings, exhibited accelerated wear and were blackened from heat stress. The number four and five cylinder connecting rod end caps and five connecting rod bolts were forwarded to the Safety Board Materials Lab. All five of the bolts exhibited severe necking at the fracture and deformation in the shafts. The large amount of deformation and necking was consistent with a single deformation event that occurred at a high temperature. The connecting rod caps exhibited similar characteristics, a gross amount of deformation, but with a lack of fracture. This was consistent with deformation at a high temperature. The engine had bee remanufactured about 9 years and 941 hours prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The failure of the connecting rod end bolts, due to an overtemperature condition.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/20/1999
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 2144
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City RISING SUN
Event State MARYLAND
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 21034
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 6
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2151 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 85
Weather Observation Facility ID ILG
Elevation of weather observation facility 80
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 26
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 2100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 400
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) 0
Intensity of Precipitation Light
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 3
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1755
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 21 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 740
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Aug 13 2001 2:07PM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N937FB
NTSB Number NYC99LA153
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 In-flight
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 182Q
Aircraft Series Identifier 182Q
Aircraft Serial Number 18267142
Certified Max Gross Weight 2800
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 Nov 1 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 45
Airframe Hours 3084
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name STEPHEN T. KUNKEL
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City ELLICOTT CITY
Aircraft Owner State MD
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 21042
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 LDJ
Departure City LINDEN
Departure State NJ
Departure Country
Departure Time 1845
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code GAI
Destination City GAITHERSBURG
Destination State MD
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 14 2001 10:25AM
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 --