Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Reed Memorial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Driggs, Idaho 83422
Monday, August 25, 2003 13:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During takeoff with a glider in tow, while passing through an altitude of 200 feet above the ground (agl), the aircraft's engine experienced a catastrophic failure. The pilot then released the glider and executed a forced landing on nearby terrain. Although the touchdown was successful, the aircraft hit a fence before the pilot could bring it to a stop. A teardown examination of the engine determined that the circlip holding one of the counterweight roller pin retaining washers had come out of the groove in the counterweight body. This lead to the roller pin coming in contact with the number five and number six connecting rods, and ultimately to the catastrophic failure. A comparison of wear pattern development on the subject circlip with the others on the counterweight body determined that it had come out of its retaining groove soon after the counterweight was overhauled about 21 hours prior to the accident. Wear patterns also indicated that the subject circlip had been installed with its "sharp edge" facing inwards, which is contradictory to the instructions contained in Textron Lycoming Service Instruction 1012F.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the improper installation of a counterweight roller pin retaining washer circlip, leading to the circlip coming out of its groove and the counterweight roller pin coming in contact with two of the engines connecting rods. Contributing to the accident were the fence and the uneven terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/25/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Driggs |
| Event State | IDAHO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 83422 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 434419N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1110531W |
| Event Location Airport | Reed Memorial |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | U59 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 6230 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| 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) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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) | 15242 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 25 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 30 2004 8:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Salt Lake FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7924V |
| NTSB Number | SEA03FA179 |
| 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 | Aero Commander |
| Aircraft Model | Callair A-9B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1563 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 5 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21 |
| Airframe Hours | 4587.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Teton Avjet, LTD, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 869 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Driggs |
| Aircraft Owner State | ID |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 83422 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | U59 |
| Departure City | Driggs |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1330 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | U59 |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 22 2004 5:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |