Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Houstonia, Missouri 65333
Saturday, September 18, 2004 12:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained impact and fire damage when it cart-wheeled during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The pilot reported that 30 minutes into the flight he heard a "clunk", the engine stopped running, and the propeller was not windmilling. He stated he attempted to restart the engine to no avail. The pilot was attempting an off airport landing in a bean field when the right wing contacted the ground, the airplane cart wheeled, and a post impact fire ensued. Inspection of the engine revealed the piston and piston pin on the number 4 cylinder were separated from the connecting rod. The metallurgical examination of the number 4 connecting rod noted the piston pin end of the rod was fractured and the fractured ends were deformed inward. The fractured surface revealed an area typical of a fatigue crack that started at the forging parting plane on the exterior surface. The fatigue origin areas contained ratchet marks indicating that fatigue cracking initiated at multiple sites and the crack extended through approximately 60% of the wall thickness. The engine, a Lycoming O-320-E2D, was overhauled on August 11, 2003, at an engine total time of 3,918.7 hours. The engine had accumulated approximately 70 hours since the overhaul. Maintenance records indicate the connecting rods were magnafluxed, rebushed, checked for alignment, and reinstalled in the engine during the overhaul. The connecting rods were the original engine rods.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue failure of the piston end of the connecting rod and the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/18/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Houstonia |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 65333 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385300N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0932100W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 140 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DMO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 909 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 17 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18198 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 18 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| 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 | Kansas City, MO FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N80237 |
| NTSB Number | CHI04LA283 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17266465 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 10 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 6244 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dejarnette Enterprises, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2525 NE Douglas St. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lee's Summit |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 64064 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Kenneth T. Conlee |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Lee's Summit |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 64081 |
| 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 | LXT |
| Departure City | Lee's Summit |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | COU |
| Destination City | Columbia |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - flare/touchdown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 22 2005 8:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |