Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Vienna, Missouri 65582
Saturday, December 9, 2006 14:30 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane impacted terrain during a forced landing after a loss of engine power. The pilot recently purchased the airplane and had taken delivery of it on the day of the accident. Examination of the engine revealed three of the crankshaft cluster gear bolts were fractured completely through. The bolt fracture surface features were consistent with fatigue. Additionally, the crankshaft gear had a hole where a crankshaft dowel had been installed following a design change in 1948 and was reflected in subsequent maintenance manuals. The dowel is used as a reference in machining the crankshaft. During the disassembly, the tappets fell out when the engine was overturned during the disassembly. It was later noted that the tappets did not contain retaining hardware. The interior of the crankcase halves contained a black colored residue when the oil was drained. Logbook entries show that the engine was last overhauled on July 25, 1990, and accumulated a total time since overhaul of 257.5 hours. Teledyne Continental Service Information Letter, SIL98-9A, Time Between Overhaul Periods, states that engines are to be overhauled at least every twelve years.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power during cruise flight due to fatigued crankshaft cluster gear bolts and the inadequate major overhaul of the engine that was last performed by other maintenance personnel. An additional cause was a subsequent major engine overhaul not performed by the pilot after he purchased the airplane and operated it with an engine that exceeded the engine manufacturer's time between overhaul criteria.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/9/2006
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1430
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Vienna
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 65582
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 385493N
Event Location Longitude 0915458W
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 1353 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 145
Weather Observation Facility ID VIH
Elevation of weather observation facility 1148
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 13
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 8
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 220
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 13
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.23
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 23001
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Dec 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 Jan 30 2008 4:08PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office St. Louis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N76379
NTSB Number CHI07LA039
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 140
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 10800
Certified Max Gross Weight 1450
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Dec 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 3.3
Airframe Hours 3154
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Michael W Dann
Aircraft Owner Street Address 787 E. 1055 Road
Aircraft Owner City Baldwin City
Aircraft Owner State KS
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 66006
Operator is an individual? Yes
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 VIH
Departure City Rolla/Vichy
Departure State MO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1410
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code K34
Destination City Gardner
Destination State KS
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 23 2008 2:05PM
User who most recently changed record SULP
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 --