Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Miles City, Montana 59301
Sunday, November 4, 2001 18:15 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During en route cruise, the number four cylinder exhaust valve guide separated from its associated cylinder head. When the aircraft was approximately 12 miles from the airport, the head of the number four cylinder exhaust valve separated from the valve stem. The exhaust valve head then dropped into the number four cylinder where it repeatedly impacted the piston dome and the cylinder head ceiling. This was followed by approximately 30 percent of the piston dome failing inward, resulting in the pressurization of the crankcase through the open exhaust valve port. As a result of the pressurization of the case, one of the number six cylinder pushrod-to-crankcase seals was forced off of its crankcase mounting surface, allowing the majority of the oil to escape from the engine. Soon thereafter, due to thermal stress, the number one connecting rod separated from the crankshaft and punched holes in the crankcase near the number one and number two crankshaft journals. After experiencing a total loss of power, the pilot attempted to land on the uneven rolling terrain, but due to the darkness of the night collided with the terrain.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The separation of the number four cylinder exhaust valve guide from the cylinder head, leading to the failure of the exhaust valve stem and the catastrophic failure of the engine while in cruise flight. Factors include the necessity of attempting a forced landing in rolling/hilly terrain on a very dark night.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/4/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1815 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Miles City |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59301 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| 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 | 1753 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KMLS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2628 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.03 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12375 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operation Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 4 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1830 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 24 2002 3:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Helena FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8347T |
| NTSB Number | SEA02FA009 |
| 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 | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 175C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17557047 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2450 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 30 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 84 |
| Airframe Hours | 2450 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Terry I. Stubblefield |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Miles City |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59301 |
| 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 | 9D2 |
| Departure City | Buffalo |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MLS |
| Destination City | Miles City |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2002 12:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |