Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Baker, California 92307
Sunday, April 6, 2003 10:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane collided with obstacles during a forced landing in desert terrain. While in cruise flight, a portion of the propeller blade separated and the airplane's engine began to violently vibrate. The pilot executed a forced landing and the airplane collided with cactus plants prior to touch down. The airplane hit hard and the landing gear separated. The Safety Board's Materials Laboratory examined the remainder of the propeller blade, which revealed fatigue cracking. At the origin of the crack was a corrosion pit. High magnification optical examinations revealed that numerous small shallow corrosion concentration areas were imbedded on both the camber and flat surfaces, in indication that the blade had not been properly dressed. Paint and conversion coatings covered many of the pits and corrosion areas. The propeller was overhauled March 25, 2002, and had accumulated about 700 hours of total time since the overhaul, Logbook entries recorded that maintenance personnel removed propeller nicks on October 30, 2002. FAA Advisory Circular 43.13-1A, Section 3 "Repair of Metal propellers," paragraph 585(a) discusses procedures applied to the repair of aluminum propellers. Specifically, this reference addresses rounding out of nicks, scars, cuts, etc. by advising to "...exercise care to remove the deepest point of the injury..."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the separation of a propeller blade tip due to fatigue cracking that resulted from improper maintenance repair procedures.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/6/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1000
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Baker
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92307
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 351500N
Event Location Longitude 1160300W
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 Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 954 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 40
Weather Observation Facility ID DAG
Elevation of weather observation facility 1927
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 40
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
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) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.07
Density Altitude (feet) 800
Intensity of Precipitation --
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 2
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16923
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 7 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1620
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 28 2004 12:45PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-LAS-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N8465R
NTSB Number LAX03LA130
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 Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28-181
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28-8216031
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Mar 16 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 11636
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Air Desert Pacific, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1889 McKinnley Ave
Aircraft Owner City La Verne
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91750
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code POC
Departure City La Verne
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 830
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 0L7
Destination City Jean
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 8 2004 5:26PM
User who most recently changed record RICJ
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 --