Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
General Wm J Fox Airfield Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lancaster, California 93534
Thursday, October 16, 2003 15:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with power lines during an off-airport forced landing following a loss of engine power. While in cruise at 10,500 feet, the pilot heard a bang, and the engine lost power. He declared an emergency, and attempted to glide to a nearby airport; however, he was unable to make it to the runway. The airplane collided with power lines and fell to the ground about 4 miles west of the airport. The N1 and N2 shafting systems were bound up and would not move. The upper magnetic chip detector was free of metal, but it did contain coke. There was slight varnishing of the anode and cathode. The lower magnetic chip detector contained a substantial amount of metallic particles, subsequently identified as material from the No. 5 bearing. The particles did bridge the gap from anode to cathode. A detailed examination of the engine determined that three sections of the first stage turbine wheel separated. The stub shaft also fractured and separated, and a portion of the fractured tie bolt remained in the wheel. Metallurgical examination of the first and second stage turbine wheels found evidence of gamma prime solutioning and localized melting of the second stage turbine wheel airfoil tips, indicating temperature exposures above 2,100 degrees Farenheit, a temperature range outside the normal operating envelope of these wheels. This exposure to elevated temperatures resulted in rim separation due to thermal fatigue initiating at the rim followed by accelerated interdendritic creep crack growth. No evidence of an oil fire was associated with the first stage wheel separation. The composition, hardness, and microstructure of the first stage turbine wheel were as required by the engineering drawing. The No. 5 bearing exhibited heat distress, but the cause of this could not be conclusively determined. According to Rolls-Royce Allison, the internal evidence of excessive thermal damage to the first and second stage turbine wheels was consistent with prior examples of known hot starts.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to thermal fatigue failure of the first stage turbine wheel resulting in release of a section of its rim. The thermal fatigue was due to the engine exceeding its temperature limits during one or more start cycles.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/16/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lancaster |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93534 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344712N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1181725W |
| Event Location Airport | General Wm J Fox Airfield |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WJF |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5.14 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 293 |
| Airport Elevation | 2348 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1456 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 293 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WJF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2348 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4641 |
| 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) | 20581 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 16 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1545 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 31 2006 8:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N700TT |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA016 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-2361 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3849 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 10 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5.2 |
| Airframe Hours | 1744.8 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Lester Hill Trustee |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Capistrano Beach |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92624 |
| 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 | FUL |
| Departure City | Fullerton |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1435 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FAT |
| Destination City | Fresno |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2006 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |