Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Leesburg Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Leesburg, Virginia 20175
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 16:55 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was relocating a Cessna 172E for the airplane's annual maintenance inspection. During the flight, the engine suffered a partial loss of power and began to "shake and misfire violently." The pilot then attempted to control the engine by adjusting the throttle and mixture controls, without result. As the airplane descended, the pilot looked for a place to land and spotted an open field. After turning final, he extended his wing flaps to the 40-degree position and touched down. During the emergency landing the airplane approached a ditch. The pilot attempted to get over the ditch by raising the flaps, but the airplane struck the far side of the ditch. During a postaccident examination of the engine, it was discovered that the No.2 cylinder's exhaust valve rocker arm was fractured and had separated into two parts. The initial fracture on the exhaust valve rocker arm was on the push rod side of the arm. This fracture had features indicative of overstress. The fracture on the valve side of the arm was secondary to the overstress fracture on the push rod side. The fatigue cracking at this location appeared to be the result of bending loads generated after the fracture on the push rod side was created. The fracture on the push rod side of the arm was generated from some type of high load event, possibly during an overhaul 34.8 hours prior to the accident. The pilot/owner had purchased one of the cylinders on "eBay," and there were discrepancies in the engine maintenance records.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power that resulted from the failure of an exhaust valve rocker arm during cruise.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/23/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1655 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Leesburg |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20175 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390349N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0773812W |
| Event Location Airport | Leesburg Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JYO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 4.29 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 389 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1700 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 88 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JYO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 389 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 15 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.38 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24670 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern Region Com Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 25 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 22 2008 10:22AM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Dulles, VA |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3982S |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA125 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17251182 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2300 |
| 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 | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 18 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 6.9 |
| Airframe Hours | 4017.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael D. Henderson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fairfax |
| Aircraft Owner State | VA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 22033 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Michael D. Henderson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Fairfax |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 22033 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | JYO |
| Departure City | Leesburg |
| Departure State | VA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1655 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CJR |
| Destination City | Culpeper |
| Destination State | VA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 22 2008 2:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | grer |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 5500 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |