Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Steward, Illinois 60553
Wednesday, June 26, 2002 13:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to a soybean field. The pilot reported that while in cruise flight the engine shuttered and developed serious vibration. The pilot stated that "at 3,500 feet engine ejected right rear cylinder head. Cowling stayed hinged on left. Oil spray on windshield and fire on lower right of firewall." The pilot reported that he shut down the engine and "tried to make Staton Airport but had [to perform a] forced landing in bean field. Damaged right wing in forced landing." Inspection of the engine verified that the number three cylinder had separated during flight. The cylinder was never located and/or recovered. The number three piston and connecting rod had separated from the crankshaft and were located at the bottom of the engine compartment. All of the number three cylinder through bolts and case studs were fractured. Several of the through bolts and studs had fracture features that were consistent with fatigue. The remaining bolts and studs had fracture features that were consistent with overload.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the fatigue failure of several number three cylinder through bolts and case studs, which resulted in the separation of the number three engine cylinder. A factor contributing to the accident was the rough terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/26/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Steward |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60553 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| 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 | 800 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1330 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 73 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DKB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 915 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| 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) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2461 |
| 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) | 14410 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 27 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 25 2003 11:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA, DuPage FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N76SA |
| NTSB Number | CHI02FA177 |
| 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 | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7635110 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2650 |
| 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 | Jun 7 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 6180 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Eagle Aircraft, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4001 Murvihill Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Valparaiso |
| Aircraft Owner State | IN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 46383 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | J.S. Aviation DBA |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4001 Murvihill Road |
| Operator City | Valparaiso |
| Operator State | IN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 46383 |
| 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 | VPZ |
| Departure City | Vaparaiso |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 9V9 |
| Destination City | Chamberlain |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 16 2003 8:28AM |
| 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 | -- |