Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Flying Cloud Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55199
Monday, January 19, 2004 13:34 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was substantially damaged during a gear up forced landing after takeoff. The pilot reported that everything was normal during the preflight and engine run-up. The pilot reported that after being cleared for takeoff, he advanced the throttle to 1,270 pounds of torque before releasing the brakes and everything was normal. He stated that upon reaching 85 knots he rotated, achieved a positive rate of climb, and retracted the landing gear. The pilot continued, "Just after the wheels were up the engine shuddered with a very substantial loss of power. It felt like a car that was hitting on half its cylinders." He stated he brought the power back to idle and focused on getting the airplane back on the runway. The pilot reported that after the airplane touched down he "pulled the emergency fuel cutoff." The airplane traveled straight ahead, crossed a taxiway, and came to rest about 100 yards past the taxiway. The pilot then shut off the battery and exited the airplane via the rear door. The airplane had a total of 183 hours since new. The pilot reported having a propeller overspeed warning during the flight previous of the accident flight. The tach generator was replaced after this incident. The tach generator that was removed was tested and no discrepancies were found. A tear down inspection on the engine failed to reveal any malfunctions/failures which would have resulted in the loss of power. Both the primary and overspeed propeller governors were removed from the engine and tested. A visual inspection of the primary governor revealed lockwire found on the airbleed system reset-eccentric screw was non-standard for Woodward and the torque sealant had been removed. A visual inspection of the overspeed governor revealed the inside of the speed setting hex screw did not contain any torque sealant. The sealant on the outside threads of the screw was cracked near the base of the screw and the housing. Bench testing of both the primary and overspeed governors revealed the overspeed governor was set to a lower rpm than the primary governor. Therefore, the overspeed governor would have been controlling the system. Manufacturing flight test documents indicate four occasions when the maximum reverse rpm was adjusted. Flight tests conducted with the governors calibrated to the settings at the time of the accident were conducted. Data from the flight tests indicate the propeller rpm was limited between 96-97% and that changes in the rpm stabilized within seconds.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/19/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1334 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Minneapolis |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55199 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 444938N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0932726W |
| Event Location Airport | Flying Cloud |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FCM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 906 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1353 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FCM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 906 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | -22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -2605 |
| 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) | 17547 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 19 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1535 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Minneapolis, MN FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1968W |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA060 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-46-500TP |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 4697115 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5092 |
| 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 | Aug 23 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 100 |
| Airframe Hours | 182 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Stephen E. Watson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Hamel |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55340 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FCM |
| Departure City | Minneapolis |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1334 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FSD |
| Destination City | Sioux Falls |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 28R |
| Runway Length | 3599 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |