Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Auburn, Washington 98001
Monday, August 11, 2008 18:00 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During the descent to the pilot's planned destination, the airplane's engine lost all power, and he was forced to make an emergency landing in a nearby open field. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted an irrigation pipe and nosed over onto its back. The nose over sequence resulted in the buckling of the fuselage and the crushing of the top one foot of the vertical stabilizer. A post-accident partial engine disassembly determined that the oil galley in the number four crankshaft connecting rod journal had became partially blocked by unidentified debris. That blockage resulted in insufficient lubrication of the number four connecting rod bearing, and the ultimate thermal destruction of the bearing. The destruction of the bearing resulted in direct contact between the connecting rod and the crankshaft journal, ultimately leading to the failure of the connecting rod cap due to thermal distress. The failure of the connecting rod cap resulted in the release of the connecting rod from the crankshaft journal, the internal failure of the engine, and the total loss of power.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A catastrophic engine failure due to the partial blockage of the lubricating oil galley in one of the crankshaft connecting rod journals, leading to the failure of the connecting rod cap.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/11/2008
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Auburn
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98001
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 471800N
Event Location Longitude 1220900W
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 5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24282
NTSB Notification Source FAA ROC
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 26 2008 6:40PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N98KC
NTSB Number SEA08CA176
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 210E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 21058703
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 1 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 4535
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Ninety Eight Kilo Corp.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Douglas E. Chappelle
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Renton
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code KBNO
Departure City Burns
Departure State OR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code S50
Destination City Auburn
Destination State WA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 8 2008 1:16PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
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 --