Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
None Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Paducah, Texas 79248
Monday, April 7, 2008 14:50 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private pilot/owner and the passenger were on a cross country flight at an altitude of 6,500 feet when a section of propeller blade broke off and the airplane began to shake violently. The pilot reduced power, slowed the airplane and stalled the propeller, which reduced the vibrations. He then declared an emergency and made a forced landing to a field. Examination of the airplane revealed that approximately 44-inches of one of the Sensenich fixed-pitch (all metal) propeller blades had separated and was not recovered. The other blade was intact. The top and bottom engine mounts on the right side (as viewed from the cockpit) were severed and the engine was displaced down and to the right. A materials examination of the propeller's fractured surface revealed fatigue cracking through approximately 85 percent of the blade and corrosion pitting at the initiation point of the failure. The remaining portion of the fracture was more jagged, had a matte appearance, and was oriented at a slant angle, which was indicative of a final overstress fracture region. A review of Sensenich's records revealed that in April 1991, this propeller (which was original to the airplane) was sent to Sensenich to be reworked; however, it was rejected due to the fact that it was "out of material chord at the tip." The propeller was returned, and at some point was placed back on the airplane. However, there was no logged entry in the airframe logbook that indicated when this was accomplished or by whom. On June 13, 1996, the FAA issued Airworthiness Directive (AD) 69-09-03, Revision 3, titled, Sensenich Propeller Manufacturing Company Incorporated models M76EMM, M76EMMS, 76EM8, and 76EM8S metal propellers. The directive was issued, "To prevent propeller blade tip fatigue failure, which can result in loss of control of the aircraft..." As a result, this particular propeller was to be removed, inspected, and reworked in accordance with Senseinich Propeller Service Bulletin (SB) number R-14A, dated July 28, 1995. Those propellers that had been inspected in accordance to the Service Bulletin and found satisfactory were to be marked with the suffix letter "K." Examination of the accident propeller revealed there was no "K" marking. In addition, a review of the logbooks revealed that the AD had not been complied with as required per Federal Aviation Regulations.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Fatigue failure and separation of the propeller during cruise flight. Contributing to the accident was the owner's failure to comply with a long standing Airworthiness Directive.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/7/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1450 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Paducah |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 79248 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 340929N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1001003W |
| Event Location Airport | None |
| 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) | 120 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CDS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1954 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 16 |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.76 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23578 |
| NTSB Notification Source | LBB FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 7 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 28 2008 12:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lubbock FAA/FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5300L |
| NTSB Number | DFW08LA094 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-4602 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | Jan 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 69.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 5016.79 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert Waldron PC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Stephenville |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 76401 |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SEP |
| Departure City | Stephenville |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | DUX |
| Destination City | Dumas |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2008 2:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | GAMW |
| 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 | -- |