Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
La Crosse Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601
Wednesday, August 20, 2003 10:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage when it nosed over during a forced landing to a cornfield after a total loss of engine power. The pilot reported the engine "suddenly began vibrating." The engine seized and the propeller stopped turning 10 seconds after the vibration started. He executed a forced landing to a cornfield, and the airplane nosed over during landing roll. The inspection revealed that the crankshaft was fractured in two pieces, with the fracture between the crankshaft rod journal and the front main bearing. Fatigue stress crack progression was observed on approximately 50 percent of the fracture surface. The cracking appeared to originate in the forward radius of the master-rod bearing journal. The remainder of the fracture surface exhibited conditions typical of tensile overload. The reason for the initiation of the crack in the journal radius of the crankshaft was not identified. The engine manufacturer's recommended time between overhaul (TBO) for the R-985 engine is 1,600 hours. The operator imposed a 1,200 hour TBO on the engines used in its fleet of airplanes.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power due to a fatigue fracture of the engine's crankshaft. A factor was the corn crop.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/20/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1015 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | La Crosse |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54601 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 435244N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0911516W |
| Event Location Airport | LA CROSSE MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LSE |
| 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 | 750 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LSE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 750 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| 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) | 29.9 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15435 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 20 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1316 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Milwaukee FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N806RB |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA274 |
| 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 | Boeing |
| Aircraft Model | A-75 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 75-4000 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3520 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 11673 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Schwan's Aerial Marketing, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1515 West College Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Marshall |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 56258 |
| 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 | MWC |
| Departure City | MILWAUKEE |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | LSE |
| Destination City | La Crosse |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach - VFR pattern - final approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 6 2004 3:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| 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 | -- |