Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Salt Lake City, Utah 84104
Monday, August 3, 2009 13:15 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During cruise flight, the pilot experienced a complete loss of engine power and initiated a forced landing to an open field. During the landing roll, the airplane encountered a ditch, which resulted in substantial damage to the airplane's fuselage. A Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness inspector reported damage to the accessory section of the engine. A subsequent postaccident examination of the engine by a second inspector revealed that the crankshaft gear had failed, which resulted in significant damage to all the gears in the accessory section of the engine. Over 50 percent of the crankshaft gear could not be found, and the crankshaft gear appeared to have fractured and failed through both dowel pin slots. The engine was manufactured in 1947 and was the original engine installed by the factory at the time of the airframe's manufacture. The engine had accumulated 2,520 hours time in service and was overhauled 147 hours prior to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A total loss of engine power during cruise flight due to the failure of the crankshaft gear.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/3/2009
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1315
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Salt Lake City
Event State UTAH
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 84104
Event Date Year 2009
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 404541N
Event Location Longitude 1115816W
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 1253 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 275
Weather Observation Facility ID SLC
Elevation of weather observation facility 4227
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 20000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 14000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 34
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 1
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 160
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.03
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 26166
NTSB Notification Source Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2009 9:25AM
User who most recently changed record johb
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N373C
NTSB Number WPR09LA382
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 None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name STINSON
Aircraft Model 108-2
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 108-3373
Certified Max Gross Weight 2230
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 7 2009 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 53
Airframe Hours 2520
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name Honey S. McDermott
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Cottonwood
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 96022
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Charles R. McDermott
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Cottonwood
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 96022
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 RKS
Departure City Rock Springs
Departure State WY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1130
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code TVY
Destination City Tooele
Destination State UT
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2009 12:27PM
User who most recently changed record ricj
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 --