Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Casper, Wyoming 82630
Saturday, October 13, 1990 11:10 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE PILOT MADE A FORCED LANDING AFTER THE ENGINE FAILED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE NUMBER 2 CYLINDER CONNECTING ROD LOWER YOKE WAS FRACTURED. METALLURGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ROD REVEALED ROTATIONAL POLISHING AND GALLED SPOTS ON THE INSIDE YOKE SURFACES AND A FATIGUE FRACTURE OF THE YOKE THAT ORIGINATED AT THE INSIDE SURFACE.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

THE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO FATIGUE FRACTURE OF THE NUMBER 2 CYLINDER CONNECTING ROD. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: ROUGH AND UNEVEN TERRAIN AT THE ACCIDENT SITE AND THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR FORCED LANDING.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/13/1990
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1110
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City CASPER
Event State WYOMING
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 82630
Event Date Year 1990
Event Date Month 10
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 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1250 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID CPR
Elevation of weather observation facility 5348
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 30
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
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) 50
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 20
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 26
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 0
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1538
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Oct 13 1990 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1408
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 42949
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 5:30PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9732M
NTSB Number SEA91LA006
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name MOONEY
Aircraft Model M20F
Aircraft Series Identifier M20F
Aircraft Serial Number 670292
Certified Max Gross Weight 2740
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 12 1989 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 213
Airframe Hours 4388
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name
Aircraft Owner Street Address
Aircraft Owner City
Aircraft Owner State
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name GLENN A WATTS
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 9312 TASCO DRIVE NE
Operator City ALBUQUERQUE
Operator State NM
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 87111
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 4AC
Departure City ALBUQUERQUE
Departure State NM
Departure Country
Departure Time 730
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code CPR
Destination City CASPER
Destination State WY
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
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 0
Runway Width 0
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --