Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sweeny, Texas 77480
Tuesady, September 14, 2004 18:15 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 1,800-hour commercial pilot reported that while in cruise flight, the left engine stopped producing power and the left propeller fell forward approximately six inches. The pilot secured the engine and made a precautionary landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage during the forced landing to a field. A review of aircraft maintenance records revealed that the airplane experienced a gear-up landing in January 2002, which resulted in a propeller strike. The left engine was removed and inspected per the manufacturer's overhaul manual and returned to service. The engine had accrued approximately 440 hours since it was overhauled. Examination of the engine revealed that the entire three-bladed propeller assembly and the #1 cylinder had separated from the engine. The engine was disassembled and the crankshaft, along with an intact #3 connecting rod assembly and the fractured #2 connecting rod assembly were examined by a Safety Board Materials Engineer. The crankshaft was fractured in two places; one fracture was just forward of the #3 rod journal in the crank cheek, and the other fracture was in the aft crank cheek adjacent to the #2 main journal. The interior surface of the #1 and #2 main bearing halves exhibited significant rubbing and a portion of the bearing liner material was delaminated and was missing from the forward end of the bearing. On the oil slinger face, just forward of the #1 main journal, 360 degree rubbing damage was noted just outboard of the radius. In the rub region, metallic transfer was present with a color consistent with aluminum material. No evidence of radial cracks was observed in this area. An exact determination for the crankshaft failure could not be determined; however, evidence supported two possibilities that could have attributed to its demise. One possibility was that the crankshaft fracture initiated from rubbing damage between the crank cheek aft of the #2 main journal (thrust face) and the crankcase, with the other fatigue region being secondary. The exact cause for the rubbing was not clear, but one possibility was that the bearing liner delaminated and liberated a section causing a reduction in the clearance between the crankshaft and the crankcase as it was rubbing/exiting through the oil slinger. The other possibility was that the propeller strike caused the rubbing/cracking to occur, which was not detected during the subsequent overhaul/inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fracture failure of the left engine crankshaft for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/14/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1815 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Sweeny |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 77480 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 285823N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0955148W |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 26 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.83 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18282 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Houston FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 16 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1400 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Houston, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N555MC |
| NTSB Number | FTW04LA238 |
| 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-31-350 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7752154 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Aug 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6542.1 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Mcoco Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7757 San Felipe St. Ste. 100 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Houston |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77063 |
| 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 | T97 |
| Departure City | PORT LAVACA |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1745 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HOU |
| Destination City | HOUSTON |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 22 2005 2:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |