Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Leesburg Executive Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Leesburg, Virginia 20175
Tuesady, October 22, 2002 16:00 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in the traffic pattern, the engine backfired a few times. After landing, and while taxiing to the ramp, the pilot determined that the right ignition source was working intermittently. He was unable to replace the right ignition source and departed the following day. As the airplane made a normal descent into the final destination airport, the pilot discovered the right ignition source was "completely dead." The pilot had replaced both magnetos with a Dual Lightspeed Plasma II ignition system with Hall Effect Sensor Modules. After landing at the final destination airport, the pilot removed the back plate of the right Hall Effect sensor module and found that the timing rotor had fractured, and that the internal face of the back plate exhibited rotational scoring. Subsequent Safety Board examination revealed that the timing rotor had failed due to low-stress, high-cycle fatigue. According to the manufacturer, 400 timing rotors were in use, and there were no reported failures.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A low-stress, high-cycle fatigue fracture of the right ignition timing rotor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 10/22/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | LEESBURG |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20175 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390440N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0773326W |
| Event Location Airport | Leesburg Executive Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JYO |
| 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 | 389 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 330 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 539 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 546 |
| 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) | 13828 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Pilot |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 12 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1626 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2003 8:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | DULLES FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N184CM |
| NTSB Number | IAD03IA017 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CRAIG N. MOEN |
| Aircraft Model | RV-8 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 80338 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1800 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| 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 | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 14 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6 |
| Airframe Hours | 27 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CRAIG N. MOEN |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | CHEVY CHASE |
| Aircraft Owner State | MD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 20815 |
| 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 | 4W1 |
| Departure City | ELIZABETHTOWN |
| Departure State | NC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JYO |
| Destination City | LEESBURG |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 20 2003 4:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COXP |
| 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 | -- |