Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Natchitoches, Louisiana 71457
Wednesday, December 29, 2004 17:35 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 15,000-hour commercial pilot reported that while he was in cruise flight at 12,000 feet mean sea level (msl) during an IFR cross country flight, he began to smell smoke and noticed the engine began to surge. After requesting a lower altitude, the air traffic controller advised him of the nearest airport. During the descent, at an altitude of approximately 9,000 feet msl, "the engine lost oil pressure" and the pilot shut the engine down using the mixture control. The "engine continued to turn over" as he heard "several loud explosions and observed fireballs at the propeller hub" before the propeller stopped turning. After realizing he was unable to make it to the airport, the pilot elected to land in a field approximately 1/2 mile south of his intended airport. After maneuvering the airplane under a set of power lines, the pilot landed in an open field. A detailed examination of the engine was completed at the facilities of the engine manufacturer. The examination revealed that the crankshaft and counterweights assembly exhibited lubrication distress of a varying degree to all connecting rod journals and bearings. The number six piston head exhibited detonation and pre-ignition damage. The examination concluded that a turbo-normalizing system had been installed and the installation of a turbo-normalizing system on an engine originally certificated as a normally aspirated model containing high compression pistons is contrary to the recommendations in TCM Service Bulletin M64-18 and can reduce the engine's detonation margins.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to pre-ignition and detonation. Contributing factors were the lack of suitable terrain available for the forced landing and the unapproved installation of a turbocharger.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 12/29/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1735 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Natchitoches |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71457 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 314408N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0930556W |
| 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 | 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 | 5000 |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.27 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19883 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 29 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2006 1:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N920GL |
| NTSB Number | DFW05IA048 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-2776 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3750 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael F. Grossman |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5557 GOEHMANN LN |
| Aircraft Owner City | FREDERICKSBURG |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78624 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Ronald Eugene Wilson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 10072 SUNRISE WAY |
| Operator City | Canyon Falls |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55009 |
| 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 | 66Y |
| Departure City | Diamondhead |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | F17 |
| Destination City | Center |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 10 2006 10:43AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |