Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gordo, Alabama 35466
Friday, March 7, 2003 17:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During cruise flight a "bump" was felt under the pilot's seat, then the airplane pitched up erratically and became difficult to control. The pilot selected an open field and executed an emergency landing. The airplane came to rest in a pond. The pilot reported that the crankshaft sheared behind the propeller flange and in front of the crankcase. Examination of the airplane on site revealed that one of the propeller blades separated at the flange, there was substantial damage to the nose bowl cowling due to the airplane nosing over into the pond. The firewall was bent slightly rearward at the base and there was also water damage to the wing spar. Further examination of the partial crankshaft recovered, revealed that the separation had occurred between the oil slinger and the propeller mounting flanges leaving a fracture face. The fracture face displayed arced crack arrest marks, consistent with fatigue propagation. The arcing of the crack arrest marks indicated that the fatigue origin was located further forward, towards the propeller-mounting flange on the unrecovered portion of the crankshaft.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fatigue failure of the crankshaft.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/7/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Gordo |
| Event State | ALABAMA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 35466 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 332320N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0880020W |
| 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 | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1745 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 95 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | tcl |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 170 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.04 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19811 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Communication Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 7 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1845 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2006 1:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Birmingham FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1648E |
| NTSB Number | ATL03LA059 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Aeronca |
| Aircraft Model | 7AC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7AC-5213 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1220 |
| 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 | Feb 11 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 2391 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Carole Anne Taylor |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5410 Inverness Place |
| Aircraft Owner City | North Port |
| Aircraft Owner State | AL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 35473 |
| 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 | KTCL |
| Departure City | Tuscaloosa |
| Departure State | AL |
| Departure Country | NH |
| Departure Time | 1700 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| 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 | Apr 16 2004 9:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | POWP |
| 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 | -- |