Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Snow Shoe, Pennsylvania 16874
Friday, November 10, 2006 21:45 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While in cruise flight, the engine lost power, and the pilot performed a nighttime forced landing to a wooded area. A subsequent examination of the engine revealed a loose timing belt, and the idler pulley, upon which the cam belt would normally have run, was missing. There was also a broken stud in the location where the idler pulley should have been. The loose cam belt resulted in the camshafts being out of timing, allowing the valves to contact each other and bend. The original attach bolt for the missing idler pulley had been replaced by the airplane builder, who was not the current owner, with a 6-inch stud to mount an additional alternator. The mounting stud had been sleeved with a spacer to maintain a mounting distance between the alternator and the engine. The weight of the alternator and its mounting distance from the engine resulted in excessive stress to the mounting stud, which eventually broke.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The builder's improper installation of an additional alternator. Contributing to the accident were the night lighting conditions.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/10/2006
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 2145
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Snow Shoe
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 16874
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 410300N
Event Location Longitude 0775700W
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 2121 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 120
Weather Observation Facility ID UNV
Elevation of weather observation facility 1239
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 10
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
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) 29.94
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24157
NTSB Notification Source EROC
NTSB Notification Date Nov 11 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 28 2008 3:01PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Harrisburg

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N441AV
NTSB Number NYC07LA026
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 None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Vogel
Aircraft Model Glastar 41
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 041
Certified Max Gross Weight 1960
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Harry Batson
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Erie
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 48133
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 Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code LDJ
Departure City Linden
Departure State NJ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code TDZ
Destination City Toledo
Destination State OH
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 26 2008 6:32PM
User who most recently changed record MUZD
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 --