Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kalispell, Montana 59919
Monday, July 23, 2007 18:30 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While in cruise flight over a wilderness area, the engine sputtered and then lost power. The pilots attempted to restart the engine, and then began to look for a place to land. The pilot landed the airplane on a gravel/sand bar area near a river. The airplane sustained structural damage to the firewall, a wing strut, and leading edge damage to the horizontal stabilizer. The pilots reported that the oil pressure and cylinder head temperature gages were in the green prior to the event, and there was no indication that there was anything wrong. An inspection of the engine revealed that the master rod end had broken. No metal pieces were observed in either the oil filter or oil sump. Further inspection of the engine revealed that the supercharger impeller shaft bearings (blower bushing) had failed. The supercharger impeller bearings are an area that requires lubrication, and if they fail, raw oil can be pumped into the induction system, which could cause various engine problems, including detonation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the failure of the supercharger impeller bushing, which allowed raw oil to enter the induction system.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/23/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Kalispell |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59919 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 473528N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1131758W |
| 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 | 1855 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 290 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GPI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2977 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 60 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| 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) | 29.78 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23929 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 23 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2008 9:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-HLN-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6784L |
| NTSB Number | LAX07LA238 |
| 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 | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | Beaver DHC-2 MK.1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 273 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5370 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 13600 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Edward J. Watson III |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mount Vernon |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98274 |
| 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 | BVS |
| Departure City | Mount Vernon |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LWT |
| Destination City | Lewiston |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 11 2008 5:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |