Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gustavus, Alaska 99826
Saturday, July 1, 2006 10:40 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private certificated pilot was in cruise flight about 2,000 feet above the ground (agl) on a Title 14, CFR Part 91, cross-country personal flight. He began to smell, and then see, what appeared to be smoke emanating from the engine, which subsequently lost power. He lowered the flaps and landing gear and performed an emergency landing on a beach. During the landing roll, the nose gear collapsed. The pilot reported that while waiting for rescue, he discovered that the number four cylinder connecting rod had fractured, and was protruding through the top of the engine case. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the number 4 connecting rod was fractured at the base of the rod beam. Fragments of the rod cap, the rod bearing, and the connecting rod bolts had thermal and mechanical damage. The rod cap bolts were necked down at the point of fracture. Fragments of the rod bearing were located in the engine oil sump. The engine had accrued 1,482 hours since its last overhaul in 1970, and 9 hours since its last annual inspection on June, 24, 2006. The engine manufacturer's recommended Time Between Engine Overhaul (TBO) for the accident engine is 1,500 hours, or every 12 years.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fracture of an engine connecting rod during cruise flight, which resulted in a forced landing on a beach, a collapsed nose landing gear, and substantial damage to the fuselage.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/1/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1040 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Gustavus |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99826 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 583819N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1373946W |
| 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 | 1056 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAGS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 34 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 63 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 165 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21256 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 1 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2007 2:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-AL-JNU FSDO 05 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8690M |
| NTSB Number | ANC06LA084 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | P35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-7279 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3100 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 9 |
| Airframe Hours | 2592 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Steven C. Scruggs |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Warrenton |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97146 |
| 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 | PAJN |
| Departure City | Juneau |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 945 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAYA |
| Destination City | Yakutat |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2007 9:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| 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 | -- |