Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Racine, Wisconsin 53403
Monday, August 6, 2001 10:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to a soybean field after a complete loss of engine power. The pilot reported he was flying in cruise flight at 2,800 feet mean sea level. The airplane was operating normally with no abnormal engine indications. He reported that he heard a "loud bang" and experienced a complete loss of engine power. He attempted to restart the engine but with no success. He declared an emergency and executed a forced landing to a soybean field. The on-site inspection of the airplane revealed that the number 3 cylinder and connecting rod had separated from the engine. The examination of the engine revealed that all eight hold down studs on the number 3 cylinder deck were broken and exhibited fatigue fractures. The metallurgical examination of the upper front and lower front 1/2 inch thru-studs revealed they had fractured through approximately 95% and 90%, respectively, of their cross-sections by fatigue as characterized by the smooth transgranular topography and beach marks. The hardness of the studs was below the engineering drawing requirements. The examination of the thru-studs indicated that the studs were not properly heat-treated. The 3/8 inch cylinder stud fractures were secondary to the anchored thru-stud fatigue fractures. The hardness of the other thru-studs in the crankcase was also below the requirements outlined in engineering drawings. The maintenance records revealed that the engine had been overhauled at an engine overhaul facility on February 11, 1999. It had accumulated about 532 hours of flight time since the last major overhaul. The engine overhaul facility did not, and was not required by the Federal Aviation Administration regulations or the engine manufacturer's overhaul manual, to test the engine thru-studs for hardness during the engine overhaul.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power during cruise flight due to the number 3 cylinder thru-studs fatigue fractures, and the thru-stud's low hardness as a result improper heat treatment of the thru-studs, and the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/6/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Racine |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 53403 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| 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 | 956 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 190 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 668 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 38 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13238 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 6 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 23 2003 12:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Milwaukee FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5481T |
| NTSB Number | CHI01LA267 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-7240107 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 12 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 104 |
| Airframe Hours | 5500 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | S C Johnson and Sons |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1525 Howe St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Racine |
| Aircraft Owner State | WI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 53403 |
| 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 | CGX |
| Departure City | Meigs Airport |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | RAC |
| Destination City | Racine |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 18 2003 8:53AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| 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 | -- |