Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
South Bend Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
South Bend, Indiana 46637
Tuesady, December 14, 2004 13:30 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The pilot stated that shortly after takeoff, the engine "abruptly and smoothly rolled back." Movement of the power control lever had no effect. He stated that use of the manual override (MOR) system did not restore engine power. He secured the engine and executed a forced landing on a roadway. The airplane's wing struck two utility poles during rollout. Data downloaded from the accident aircraft indicated that the recorded engine interstage turbine temperature (ITT) exceeded published limits during the event. The post accident engine inspection revealed turbine damage consistent with an over-temperature event. The inspection also revealed a leak in the compressor discharge pressure (CDP) sensor bellows within the fuel control unit (FCU). The leak prevented the bellows assembly from responding to throttle inputs and resulted in the FCU providing minimum fuel flow to the engine regardless of the throttle setting. Following this accident an improved FCU design which incorporated a more robust bellows design was released and retrofited into the entire in-service and production fleet. The airframe manufacturer issued a revision to the pilot's operating handbook to provide an improved procedure for use in the event of an in-flight engine power loss. It also updated information regarding the Manual Override (MOR) system.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the fuel control unit (FCU) bellows which resulted in a significant loss of engine power and the pilot's encounter with unsuitable terrain during the subsequent forced landing. A contributing factor was the pilot's inadvertent exceedence of the engine temperature limitations during use of the manual override (MOR) system. Additional factors were the roadway and the utility poles struck during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/14/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | South Bend |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46637 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414231N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0861502W |
| Event Location Airport | South Bend Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | SBN |
| 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 | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 799 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SBN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 799 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.48 |
| 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 | 5 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 20866 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 14 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1402 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2007 9:40AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-South Bend FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N922RG |
| NTSB Number | CHI05LA045 |
| 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 | Pilatus |
| Aircraft Model | PC-12/45 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 409 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9921 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 84 |
| Airframe Hours | 599 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Riversville Aircraft Corp. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 433 Riversville Rd |
| Aircraft Owner City | Greenwich |
| Aircraft Owner State | CT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 06831 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Greenhill Aviation Co., LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 16 Hangar Road |
| Operator City | White Plains |
| Operator State | NY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 10604 |
| 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) | Executive/Corporate |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SBN |
| Departure City | South Bend |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HPN |
| Destination City | White Plains |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 9 2006 3:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| 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 | -- |