Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Sussex Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wawayanda, New York 10973
Sunday, March 25, 2007 9:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight instructor and student pilot were practicing stalls when the airplane experienced a sudden, total loss of engine power. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the left crankcase half idler gear shaft was dislodged from its respective mounting boss. The two idler gear shaft retaining bolts were broken. The idler gear that interconnected the crankshaft and camshaft remained on the idler shaft and was observed with a "U"-shaped fracture at the gear ring area that separated two full teeth. Optical examination of the gear fracture revealed fracture face markings, including arrest lines consistent of fatigue progression, which was estimated to cover more than 95 percent of the fracture surface. Both gear shaft retaining bolts were separated near their respective heads. The bolts displayed severe circumferential wear through the threaded shanks that removed the majority of the bolt diameters. High magnification viewing of the fractures in these areas on both bolts revealed features indicative of multiple origin fatigue propagating through the remaining cross sections. The lock plate was fractured in several locations and heavily distorted. The bolt holes in the lock plate were severely elongated and enlarged over their original diameter. While it was likely that loosening of the bolts precipitated the gear failure, no conclusive evidence was uncovered to confirm that scenario. The engine's most recent annual inspection was performed about 4 months prior to the accident. At that time, the engine had been operated for 1,226 hours since it was overhauled in 1985, and 639 hours since it was disassembled and reassembled after a propeller strike during 2001.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A failure of the crankshaft idler gear, which resulted in a total loss of engine power while maneuvering.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/25/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Wawayanda |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 10973 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 411950N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0742841W |
| Event Location Airport | Sussex |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FWN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 11 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 421 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 911 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FWN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 741 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 20 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.47 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24098 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 27 2007 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 | Teterboro |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N53874 |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA086 |
| 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 | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | 7ECA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1135-76 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2400 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Aviation Club Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sussex |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 07461 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FWN |
| Departure City | Sussex |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 900 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | FWN |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 11 2008 7:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |