Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Port Townsend, Washington 98363
Thursday, April 17, 2003 15:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After initiating their descent the crew heard a "thunk" sound from the left side of the aircraft, followed by the gearbox LOW OIL PRESSURE warning light illuminating. After consulting the Quick Reference Handbook, the left engine was shut down, the crew declared an emergency, and a single-engine landing was made at the destination airport without incident. Subsequent examination by maintenance personnel revealed that the #1 engine drive shaft had failed at the universal joint connection area on the gear side of the engine, resulting in substantial damage to the firewall. The left engine's accessory drive shaft assembly, including the forward and aft universal joints, were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory Division, Washington, D.C., for examination. The examination revealed that the accessory drive shaft failed due to deterioration of bearing number 1 in the aft fork of the joint. This failure led to frictional heating for some time and off-axis rotation that eventually allowed the spider journal to slip out of the bearing cup at bearing number 3, leading to the rapid separation of the joint. The cause for the number 1 bearing failure is unknown.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the accessory drive shaft due to deterioration of bearing number 1 in the aft fork of the universal joint for undetermined reasons during cruise flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/17/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Port Townsend |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98363 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 480914N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225549W |
| 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) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CLM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 291 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| 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) | 16410 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Spokane FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 30 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 29 2004 1:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Seattle, Washington |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N730FE |
| NTSB Number | SEA03LA076 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Fokker |
| Aircraft Model | F27MK 600 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 10386 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 45000 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 16 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 7.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 50151.9 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Federal Express Corporation |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2892 Airport Business Park Bldg C, Mail Code 2890 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Memphis |
| Aircraft Owner State | TN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38118 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | EMPIRE AIRLINES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2115 Government Way, |
| Operator City | Coeur d Alene |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 83814 |
| Operator Code | EMPA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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 | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KTN |
| Departure City | Ketchikan |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SEA |
| Destination City | Seattle |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 13 2004 3:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | JOHB |
| 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 | -- |