Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Reno/Stead Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Reno, Nevada 89506
Saturday, September 19, 2009 8:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was involved in a race and observed the engine begin to overheat. He elected to perform a precautionary landing and adjoined the traffic pattern of the nearby airport. While on the base leg to the runway, the engine stopped producing power and the airplane began to rapidly loose altitude. The airplane landed hard about 50 yards from the approach end of the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe's tubular steel structure. A portion of a connecting rod was located within the debris surrounding the wreckage. An examination of the engine revealed a hole in the crankcase above the Nos. 1 and 2 cylinders. The connecting rod for the No. 2 cylinder was fractured and separated below the piston wrist pin; the piston end rotated freely and the crankshaft end was fractured. The connecting rod pieces exhibited blue discoloration and the fracture surfaces exhibited mechanical peen damage. The crankshaft journal for the cylinder No. 2 connecting rod exhibited a blue discoloration, as did the camshaft journal. The No. 2 connecting rod bearings showed a similar blue discoloration. The oil screen contained magnetic metallic debris.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to failure of the No. 2 connecting rod as a result of operation of the engine at excessive temperatures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/19/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 815 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Reno |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89506 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394005N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1195235W |
| Event Location Airport | Reno/Stead |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RTS |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 5050 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 755 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4415 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 9000 |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27627 |
| NTSB Notification Source | NTSB Plagens |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 10 2010 2:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kelz |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | C-FDXO |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA458 |
| 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 | CASSUTT |
| Aircraft Model | III M |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 0489 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 125 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Adrian Cooper |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Vancover BC |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | V5T359 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Adrian Cooper |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Vancover BC |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | CA |
| Operator Zip code | V5T359 |
| 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) | Air Race/Show |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | RTS |
| Departure City | Reno |
| Departure State | NV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | RTS |
| Destination City | Reno |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 2 2010 5:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14 |
| Runway Length | 9000 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |