Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grapeland, Texas 75844
Saturday, March 30, 2002 15:25 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Approximately 25 minutes after departure, while in cruise flight at 1,500 feet msl a sudden vibration shook the airplane. The pilot scanned the engine instruments and everything "appeared to be normal." Subsequently, oil covered the windscreen, which severely limited forward visibility. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a grass field with the landing gear in the retracted position. During the landing, the airplane bounced, and the left wing "skimmed" across the top of a metal cattle feeder before impacting the ground, and the airplane spun around approximately 450 degrees before coming to rest upright. Examination of the engine revealed two holes on the top and bottom of the engine case between the #1 and #2 cylinders. The #2 connecting rod was found sticking out of the top hole and was not attached to the crankshaft. The #2 connecting rod cap was found separated from the connecting rod. The #2 connecting rod cap attachment bolts, nut, and both bearings were missing and not located. The other attachment bolt was found lodged inside the crankcase next to the #3 cylinder opening. The camshaft exhibited impact damage and was fractured in half at the point where the #2 connecting rod was found positioned. Review of the maintenance records revealed the engine had accumulated 997.75 hours since major overhaul at the time of the last annual inspection. Further review indicated that the last entry in the engine logbook was an oil change, with 1097.4 hours since major overhaul.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to the #2 connecting rod cap separating from the connecting rod. A contributing factor was the limited forward visibility due to oil on the windscreen.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/30/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1525 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Grapeland |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75844 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325611N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0970807W |
| 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 | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13975 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operation Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 1 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 730 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 30 2003 9:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Houton, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9530M |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA108 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 670107 |
| 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 | Apr 21 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 108 |
| Airframe Hours | 3756 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dale A. Simpson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1224 Shawnee Trail |
| Aircraft Owner City | Carrollton |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75007 |
| 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 | 00R |
| Departure City | Livingston |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1500 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ADS |
| Destination City | Addison |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2003 6:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |