Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Marana Northwest Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Marana, Arizona 85737
Sunday, March 4, 2001 10:37 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight the pilot noted smoke coming from the engine cowling. He initiated a precautionary landing at an airport along his route of flight. When the pilot added power to adjust his glide path, he noticed that the engine was responding to throttle input, but the propeller was not. The pilot stated that when he realized he could not make the airport, he directed the airplane to a plowed agricultural field. During the landing sequence, the nose gear "dug in" and collapsed; the airplane was nosed over. The airplane came to rest inverted. The pilot, who is also the builder of the airplane, noted that the propeller drive belt pulley had been heated and distorted, and the drive belt had separated. He also noted what appeared to be spots of molten aluminum near the drive pulley. The pilot stated that the reduction drive bearing and belt had failed for unknown reasons. The FAA approved manufacturer of this particular airplane kit stated that they do not support the use of non-aviation applications, equipment or hardware on the airplane designs they offer. The manuals and plans provided with the kit call for Continental or Lycoming engines only. The accident airplane used a marine version of the General Motors LT-1 350 automotive engine with a non certified V-belt reduction drive unit.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the propeller reduction drive unit which resulted in drive belt and pulley failure and a subsequent loss of thrust requiring an emergency landing on soft terrain. The reason for the bearing and/or belt failure was not determined. A factor was the loss of propeller thrust, which precluded the pilot from maintaining the proper glide path to the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/4/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1037 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Marana |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85737 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Marana Northwest Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | E14 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2031 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1755 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 308 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TUS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 34 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 10281 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 4 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1141 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2001 11:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Scottsdale, AZ. |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N350N |
| NTSB Number | LAX01LA108 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Harlow |
| Aircraft Model | Lancair ES |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | ES-026-1 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 5 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4.7 |
| Airframe Hours | 361 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | John H. Harlow, Jr. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Tucson |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95737 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | CGZ |
| Departure City | Casa Grande |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 910 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | La Cholla (pvt) |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 25 2001 4:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 6901 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |