Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rancho Cucamong, California 91701
Friday, January 24, 2003 16:26 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in cruise flight, a portion of a propeller blade separated from the right engine. The resulting vibration partially separated the engine from its airframe mounts, and the uncontrollable airplane rolled inverted and dived into a private residence. The house was severely damaged, the airplane was destroyed. The separated propeller was overhauled about 3 years and 5 operational hours prior to the accident flight. The separated 2.5-foot-long span of the failed blade was found about 1 mile from the main wreckage. The blade was examined by the NTSB's Metallurgical Laboratory, which found that the blade failed as a result of fatigue cracking initiated by corrosion pitting in the pilot tube bore. A fatigue crack had initiated at two corrosion pit sites in the bore, which had been painted over without the corrosion being dressed out during the overhaul. Also, many additional corrosion pits were located circumferentially in line with the origin area. The blade's bore was also contaminated with glass beads. All of these conditions found during the examination were contrary to the procedural steps in the manufacturer's overhaul instructions, and established that the blade was reassembled with an incomplete and improper overhaul. The FAA inspector assigned to oversee the overhaul company said he did not observe any repair station deficiencies during his surveillance inspections. A Safety Board inspection following the accident disclosed that the repair station's personnel were not following prescribed manufacturer overhaul procedures, did not have the required chemicals for blade treatment, and did not possess required procedure manuals. Additional inspections of other propellers overhauled by the company revealed that propellers overhauled as early as 1997, when the company commenced business, showed evidence of corrosion in the pilot bores, and were unairworthy.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fracture and separation of a propeller blade during cruise flight due to fatigue and corrosion pits in the blade pilot bore, and an improper overhaul of the separated propeller by repair station personnel. Factors contributing to the accident were the FAA's inadequate surveillance of the repair station, and the repair station's inadequate procedures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/24/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1626 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Rancho Cucamong |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91701 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340749N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1173634W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 162 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ONT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 944 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 20000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22036 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 24 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1648 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 14 2007 2:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Riverside, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2733Y |
| NTSB Number | LAX03FA074 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 95 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | TD-72 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 4100 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 9679 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Marilyn R. & Robert Y. Cable Co. Trustee, |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Claremont |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 91711 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robert Y. Cable |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Upland |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 91786 |
| 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 | CCB |
| Departure City | Upland |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1620 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CCB |
| 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 | Aug 1 2007 5:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |