Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Thermal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Thermal, California 92274
Monday, February 6, 2006 10:25 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with power lines during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The pilot reported that while maneuvering at 2,000 feet the engine began losing power. The pilot decided to divert to a nearby airport to make the emergency landing. While en route to the alternate airport, the pilot observed a part of the engine departing through the cowling and the engine lost complete power. At that point he knew he was not going to make it to the airport and decided to make a forced landing on a highway. Examination of the engine showed that the number three cylinder separated from the crankcase at the mounting pad due to the separation of its mechanical attachments. Once the cylinder separated, the piston then became unsupported, which resulted in the subsequent separation of the connecting rod from the crankshaft journal. Severe fretting signatures were found on the cylinder flange and crankcase mounting pad. The threads on the top hold down studs were undamaged and indicated that these nuts became loose and backed off. The studs on the bottom of the cylinder were fractured in overload and separated at a level consistent with the upper surface of the cylinder mounting flange.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power caused by the separation of the number three cylinder due to the improper torque on the hold down nuts.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/6/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1025 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Thermal |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92274 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333409N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1160920W |
| Event Location Airport | THERMAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | TRM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 952 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 350 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KTRM |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -115 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.26 |
| 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) | 22384 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 6 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 29 2007 8:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP FSDO, Riverside, CA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N15KH |
| NTSB Number | LAX06LA103 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Harwood Kenneth |
| Aircraft Model | Lancair 360A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 001 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 770 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Kurt Aviation, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bear |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19701 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Joseph D. Dennis III |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Palm Springs |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92264 |
| 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 | PSP |
| Departure City | Palm Springs |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 3 2007 5:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |