Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rochester, Massachusetts 02770
Sunday, July 12, 2009 12:45 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the airplane was in cruise flight when the engine developed sporadic engine vibrations. Manipulation of the carburetor heat and mixture controls did not remedy the situation and the engine subsequently developed a severe vibration. The pilot then elected to reduce engine power and perform a precautionary landing to a field. The airplane touched down in a cranberry bog, and sustained substantial firewall and airframe damage. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions. It was noted that the No. 2 cylinder lower spark plug was fouled and that the compression on the No. 4 cylinder was lower than that of cylinders 1, 2 and 3; however, the reason for the severe engine vibration could not be determined. The airplane had been operated for approximately 74 hours since its most recent 100 hour inspection, which was performed about two months prior to the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An engine vibration as reported by the pilot, for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1245 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Rochester |
| Event State | MASSACHUSETTS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 02770 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 414318N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0704805W |
| 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 | 1153 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EWB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 80 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.87 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26653 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA New England ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 13 2010 11:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4773G |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA399 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17273342 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 12 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 5385 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NEW ENGLAND FLIGHT OPERATIONS LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | BEDFORD |
| Aircraft Owner State | NH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 03110-4100 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | NEW ENGLAND FLIGHT OPERATIONS LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | BEDFORD |
| Operator State | NH |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 03110-4100 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ASH |
| Departure City | Nashua |
| Departure State | NH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1140 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MVY |
| Destination City | Vineyard Haven |
| Destination State | MA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 23 2010 3:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |