Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aeroflex-Andover Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Andover, New Jersey 07821
Friday, September 3, 1999 17:51 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After takeoff, about 400 feet above the ground, the engine made 'a metallic noise.' The CFI initiated a turn back to the runway, and the engine powered down and stopped, with the propeller in a horizontal position. The main wheels of the airplane struck the bank of a pond approximately 100 feet short of the runway, the airplane nosed over, and the pilot and passenger exited the aircraft. Examination of the crankshaft revealed that the crankshaft was separated through the aft cheek of the #3 main bearing. Magnified visual examination of the fracture face found characteristics of fatigue propagation, which initiated in the aft radius of the #3 main bearing and progressed rearward through approximately 80% of the crankshaft cheek before failing in overload. Examination of the initiation area revealed a single origin on the surface of the radius in an area of circumferential scratches. The origin was located on the journal about 10 to 15 degrees before top center of the adjacent #2 and #3 cylinders.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fatigue failure of the crankshaft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/3/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1751 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | ANDOVER |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07821 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | AEROFLEX-ANDOVER AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 12N |
| 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 | 583 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1745 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MMU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 187 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 15000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| 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) | 1597 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1565 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 3 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 13 2001 2:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8143E |
| NTSB Number | NYC99LA219 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18-135 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-18-135 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 182150 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 16 |
| Airframe Hours | 2958 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ANDOVER FLIGHT ACADEMY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 239 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANDOVER |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07821 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 12N |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| 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 | 21 |
| Runway Length | 1981 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |