Trenton Mercer Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Trenton, New Jersey 08628
Wednesday, October 16, 2002 14:24 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The Pilatus PC-12/45 departed into instrument meteorological conditions. Just as the airplane entered clouds, loud bangs were heard from the engine and flame was observed coming the left side engine exhaust. The pilot in command pushed the nose over, aimed the airplane to where he thought the airport was, and the second pilot initiated engine shutdown. The airplane touched down long and fast, on a wet runway. The pilot intentionally yawed the airplane, and it departed the runway in a nose right 60-degree skid, and struck a chain link fence about 300 feet beyond the departure end of the runway. Examination of the engine revealed the #1 bearing had failed. Electrical pitting was found on the gears in the accessory drive between the starter-generator (SG) attach point, and the # 1 bearing. About 704 hour earlier, the SG had an unscheduled replacement. Records indicated that the SG had burn marks on the stator vanes and armature; however, the initiating event for the SG failure was not determined. Other engines were identified as having experienced electrical discharge damage (EDD), all of which preceded the accident. Each event occurred on a multi-engine airplane and resulted in an in-flight shutdown, followed by a single engine landing. None of the starter generators that were identified as the source of the EDD were original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and all had been previously overhauled. Additional engines were identified as having experienced EDD; however, the records on the engines were incomplete, and there was no starter generator history to review. Goodrich published an overhaul manual for the starter-generator. In the manual they stated that only Goodrich replacement parts should be used, and the use of non-Goodrich parts would void their warranty. However, there was no FAA requirement that the overhaul be conducted by an FAA approved repair station, or that only Goodrich parts be used as replacement items

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A power loss, due to failure of the No. 1 bearing, which was a result of previous electrical discharge damage (EDD). Factors were the low ceiling and a wet runway.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/16/2002
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1424
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Trenton
Event State NEW JERSEY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 08628
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 401618N
Event Location Longitude 0744824W
Event Location Airport Trenton Mercer
Event Location Nearest Airport ID TTN
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 213
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1440 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID TTN
Elevation of weather observation facility 213
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 800
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 17
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 21
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.35
Density Altitude (feet) 317
Intensity of Precipitation Light
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15607
NTSB Notification Source FAA Eastern Region Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Oct 16 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1448
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 3 2004 1:28PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Philadelphia

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N96WF
NTSB Number NYC03FA008
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Pilatus
Aircraft Model PC-12/45
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 139
Certified Max Gross Weight 9965
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 8
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Sep 12 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 32.6
Airframe Hours 2627
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Unionville, Aviation
Aircraft Owner Street Address 345 Wall Street
Aircraft Owner City Princeton
Aircraft Owner State NJ
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 08540
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name The Nielsen-Wurster Group, Inc.
Operator Same as Owner? No
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) Executive/Corporate
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code TTN
Departure City Trenton
Departure State NJ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1422
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code IAD
Destination City Washington
Destination State VA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Mar 12 2004 1:35PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 16
Runway Length 4800
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --