Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Avenger Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sweetwater, Texas 79556
Tuesady, April 20, 2004 18:35 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The propeller on the number two engine on a light twin-engine airplane experienced an overspeed while in cruise flight. The 1,430-hour pilot reported that while in cruise flight at 5,500 feet msl, he noticed the propellers were "out of sync." The pilot stated that he made minor adjustments with the propeller levers to synchronize the propellers; however, the propellers continued to be "out of sync." The right propeller began to overspeed by approximately 1,000 RPM's, and adjustments with the right prop lever had no effect. The pilot retarded the throttle, but could not maintain proper engine RPM, so he elected to land at the nearest airport, located approximately 12 miles away. The pilot noticed that the number two engine was starting to overheat, so he retarded the throttle again and increased airspeed to aid in cooling. The airplane started to shake, and he looked outside and observed the propeller was "wobbling." Subsequently, the pilot executed a forced landing into a muddy wheat field. The airplane had an annual inspection on December 12, 2003, and was determined to be in an un-airworthy condition. The airplane was given a special flight permit for maintenance, issued on April 20, 2004, which was to expire on April 30, 2004. The propeller governors were tested on a governor test stand and functioned normally; however, they were out of specification. The maximum RPM on the left governor was 2,394 and the maximum RPM on the right governor was 2,310. The specified RPM is 2,435. The specified feather RPM is 1,700. The left governor achieved 1,671 RPMs and the right governor achieved 1,634 RPMs. Inspection after disassembly was uneventful. Both governors were found to be "old and worn, exhibited similar wear patterns, but were functional." The reason for the reported propeller overspeed could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The propeller overspeed for undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/20/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1835 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sweetwater |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79556 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 322801N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1002735W |
| Event Location Airport | Avenger Field Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SWW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | 2380 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1825 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SWW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2380 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.75 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 4402 |
| 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) | 16074 |
| NTSB Notification Source | LBB FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 20 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 900 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock Flight Standards District Office |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6257H |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA113 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 277654057 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 12 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4000 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Finck |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 825 Lake Forest Parkway |
| Aircraft Owner City | Louisville |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 40245 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Brian Carnes |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 3008 Pin Oak Drive |
| Operator City | Lagrange |
| Operator State | KY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 40031 |
| 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) | Ferry |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MAF |
| Departure City | Midland |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | JSV |
| Destination City | Sallisaw |
| Destination State | OK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2004 5:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |