Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Austin, Minnesota 55912
Friday, July 9, 2004 13:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a loss of engine power in cruise flight. The pilot reported the airplane had been operating properly at 5,000 feet mean seal level (msl) until the propeller started to overspeed between 2,950 - 3,025 rpm and the overspeed annunciator light illuminated. He attempted to slow the propeller with the propeller pitch control but without effect. The oil pressure gauge read zero. He reduced the throttle to about 15 inches of manifold pressure to slow the engine to 2,500 rpm. About 30 seconds to 1 minute later, the airplane began to shake and vibrate violently, white smoke filled the cabin, and oil covered the windshield. The pilot reported that he decided to execute a forced landing to one of the flat farm fields. He lowered the gear and established about a 90 knot descent. He shut down the engine by pulling the mixture to idle cutoff. He slipped the airplane to lose altitude prior to landing. The airplane skidded in the mud for about 80 yards, and the landing gear retracted back into the wheel wells during landing roll out. The on-site inspection of the engine revealed a hole in the right side of the engine case. The engine teardown revealed that number 1 cylinder piston pin plug was fractured in two pieces. The smaller of the two pieces was deformed with substantial material loss with the fracture surface being obliterated. The number 4 cylinder piston pin plug rotated within the piston pin. Metal contamination was found in the oil pressure relief valve and valve seat. There was a hole in the engine case next to the number 5 cylinder. The number 5 connecting rod was broken and the end of the rod was "hammered" and blackened. The number 5 rod bearing was scored and blackened. The number 1, 4, and 6 rod bearings exhibited melting and protruding. All main bearings were scored. The oil pump gears turned freely, and the sides of the pump walls were scored. The number 1 and number 4 cylinder piston pins and piston pin plugs were sent to the National Transportation Safety Board's Materials Laboratory for examination. The examination revealed that the number 1 cylinder piston pin plug had a fracture surface with visible crack arrest lines, features consistent with fatigue. Black deposits were observed on the head of the larger piece of the number 1 piston pin plug and on the ends of the number 4 cylinder piston pin plugs, although the deposits were less thick than on the number 1 piston pin plug. An impression was observed on the larger piston pin plug piece in the bevel between the head and the shank. The impression was located on the same side of the piston pin plug as the fatigue origin. The surface of the impression was covered with black deposits. The pilot reported the engine had 1,000 hours of operation since the last overhaul, and 47.7 hours of operation since the last inspection. The engine did not have an oil filter installed on it.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to the fatigue fracture of the piston pin plug that lead to engine oil starvation/exhaustion and the subsequent overload fracture of the piston rod and crankcase.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/9/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1300 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Austin |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55912 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1255 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AUM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1233 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 20 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 10 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KAUM 091715Z AUTO 01005KT 10SM CLR 22/19 A29 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17836 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 12 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N80HL |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA181 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | BE-N35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-6625 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3125 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 30 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 48 |
| Airframe Hours | 4506 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Hotel Lima, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4804 Acorn Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Beldon |
| Aircraft Owner State | MS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38826 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Justin Graff |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4804 Acorn Dr. |
| Operator City | Belden |
| Operator State | MS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 38826 |
| 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 | IKV |
| Departure City | Ankeny |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1215 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | Y23 |
| Destination City | Chetek |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2005 1:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| 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 | -- |