Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Key West, Florida 33040
Thursday, June 14, 2001 10:37 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
No discrepancies were noted during the preflight; the oil capacity was 9 quarts. Additionally, there was no report of an engine malfunction either during engine start, taxi, or during the engine run-up before takeoff. After takeoff following the first power reduction, the pilot later reported that the engine made a loud bang, and the rpm indicated zero though the propeller was rotating. Unable to return, she ditched the airplane and all occupants escaped. Examination of the engine revealed no crankshaft continuity to the accessory section. Disassembly of the engine revealed that the crankshaft was fractured at the No. 3 crankshaft cheek; metallurgical examination revealed fatigue. There was no bearing in the No. 2 main bearing position in the crankcases, pieces of it were found in the oil sump. Additionally, a bolt for the No. 2 cylinder connecting rod was fractured near the bolt head. Metallurgical examination of the bearing pieces and of the fractured connecting rod bolt revealed overstress on the undamaged fracture surfaces, and features consistent with bending shear separation, respectively. Metallurgical examination of the crankcase halves revealed brown to black deposists at all cylinder mounting surfaces; the deposits are consistent with corrosion and fretting products. Additionally, fretting and polishing were noted in several areas of both crankcase halves. The No. 2 main bearing saddle area was noted to be, "...severely damaged with large rolled edges formed at the forward and rear edges...." The engine was rebuilt by Teledyne Continental Motors, on August 23, 1988, and installed in the airplane on October 1, 1988. All cylinders were overhauled and installed on the engine on November 25, 1994; at that time the engine had accumulated a total time of approximately 986 hours since major overhaul. Between October 1, 1988, and November 25, 1994, oil samples for analysis were taken 10 times; the oil analysis reports were not located in the maintenance records and were not available from the facility that performed the analysis. There was no record of the repair and/or replacement of the Nos. 2 or 3 cylinders between the time the overhauled cylinders were installed in 1994, and the last entry in the logbook which was dated March 6, 2001. At the time of the accident, the engine had accumulated approximately 548 hours since the overhauled cylinders were installed.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The improper installation of the cylinders by other maintenance personnel for failure to assure that the cylinders were properly torqued resulting in fatigue crack in the crankshaft, and crankshaft failure. A finding in the investigation was fretting of both crankcase halves at several areas.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/14/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1037 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Key West |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33040 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EYW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 25 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11611 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Atlanta Comm Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 14 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1118 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2002 9:31AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Miami, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2117S |
| NTSB Number | MIA01LA168 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 210L |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 21061080 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 6 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 24 |
| Airframe Hours | 4808 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Flyte Air Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 18735 Baseleg Ave. |
| Aircraft Owner City | North Fort Myers |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33917 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KEYW |
| Departure City | Key West |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1032 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MWCR |
| Destination City | Grand Cayman |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | CJ |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 4 2002 8:24AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |