Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Guilford, Connecticut 06437
Saturday, August 17, 2002 13:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
At 1,300 feet, while towing a banner, the airplane's engine experienced severe vibrations and a loss of power. The pilot located a field where he could safely drop the banner, and descended to 500 feet to make the drop. After the drop, the airplane would not climb, and the vibrations increased, so the pilot decided to land in the field while he still had control of the airplane. During the approach, the pilot had to clear trees, and "came in a little high and fast." After touching down on a grassy field, he "tapped the toe brakes," and the airplane nosed over. A post-flight examination of the engine revealed that the number 3 cylinder was cracked and its exhaust valve seized. Further examination revealed a continuous fracture around the head, in the vicinity of the fourth and fifth cooling fins, with a surface consistent with fatigue cracking. The cylinder barrel had been remanufactured, then joined to a new cylinder head. Threads 1, 2 and 3 of the cylinder barrel displayed protruding material that matched corresponding thread indentations in the cylinder head. There was no evidence of material defect or dimensional anomaly from manufacturing processes. There was also no evidence as to the specific nature or extent of possible crack initiation forces. According to logbook information, the cylinder was installed in 1999, and had approximately 635 hours of service. Two accident investigations involving similar issues are CHI01FA329 and NYC02FA178.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fatigue cracking of the number 3 cylinder head. A factor was the presence of protruding material on the cylinder barrel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/17/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Guilford |
| Event State | CONNECTICUT |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 06437 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411700N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0724200W |
| 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 | 1353 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HVN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 174 |
| 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 | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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) | 16150 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA NEROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 18 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Windsor Locks |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N86714 |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA169 |
| 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 | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 8GCBC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 10-74 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 2 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 4440 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gerald S. Grant |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Florence |
| Aircraft Owner State | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 01060 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 7B6 |
| Departure City | East Windsor |
| Departure State | CT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1115 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2004 10:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |