Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bernardsville, New Jersey 07924
Thursday, September 6, 2007 18:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
About 25 minutes into the positioning flight, the pilot felt a slight vibration and a few minutes later noticed a small streak of smoke trailing along the right engine cowling. He shut down the right engine as a precautionary measure. He then observed a flame emanating from the right side of the engine, so he pitched the nose of the airplane down, increasing the airspeed and extinguishing the fire almost immediately. He subsequently landed uneventfully. Examination of the right engine revealed that the number 3 cylinder was separated from the engine case, and that the right wing was substantially damaged. Detailed examination of the number 3 cylinder attachment studs revealed that they had failed in fatigue, most likely due to insufficient preload of the fastening nuts. Paint in the nut contact area around one of the cylinder hold down plates was present, and was not disturbed. Adequate friction during the attachment and torquing process would be expected to disturb and remove the paint layer, as was seen at other locations on the hold down plate. Further, the paint observed between the cylinder flange and hold down plate was not the primer specified by the engine manufacturer's overhaul manual, and was applied at a thickness greater than that specified in the manual. The presence of this paint could have lead to an in-service loss of preload, even if sufficient torque was applied to the cylinder nuts at the time of installation. Although logbook records had no entries to show that any of the right engine’s cylinders had been removed or replaced since the last engine overhaul, evidence indicated that the No. 3 cylinder had been replaced after the engine was overhauled. According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the cylinders installed during the overhaul were new, and had serial and cylinder class numbers stamped on them. The overhauler stated that new cylinders were received with a thin coat of zinc chromate, and that the engine was painted after reassembly. The failed No. 3 cylinder examined after the accident did not have serial numbers, and had paint between the cylinder flange and hold down plate. Logbook records had no entries to show any of the right engine's cylinders had been removed or replaced since the last engine overhaul.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure by unidentified maintenance personnel to follow appropriate procedures when attaching the No. 3 cylinder, which was replaced subsequent to the engine overhaul and not entered in the logbook, resulting in fatigue failures of the cylinder studs.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/6/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1800 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Bernardsville |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07924 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 404442N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0743324W |
| 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 | 1753 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | TTN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 213 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 40 |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| 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) | 24099 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO Philadelphia, PA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 10 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 | Philadelphia FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N62BA |
| NTSB Number | NYC07LA221 |
| 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 | In-flight |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-23-250 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 27-4859 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5200 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 16880 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Northeast Aviation Inc |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11301 Norcom Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Philadelphia |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19054 |
| 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 | NAHA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PNE |
| Departure City | Philadelphia |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SWF |
| Destination City | Newburgh |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 10 2008 8:57PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |