Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Brooks County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Falfurrias, Texas 78355
Sunday, February 28, 2010 18:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he was in level cruise flight at 3,500 feet mean sea level when the engine suddenly vibrated then seized. The pilot made a "firm" forced landing on rolling brush and rock-strewn terrain. During the landing roll, the landing gear was sheared off and the canard wing was crushed. Engine disassembly revealed case fretting and main bearing movement. A representative of the engine manufacturer indicated that the failure mode was extremely rare, if not unique. The pilot had installed a Hertzler “Silver Bullet” composite propeller to the extended hub. According to the representative, it was possible that a harmonic vibration could have emanated from the propeller through the extended hub to the crankshaft. However, this propeller had not been tested to determine if there were amplified propeller harmonics to the crankshaft and the investigation was unable to determine that such vibration led to the engine failure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to a failure of the crankshaft behind the No. 3 connecting rod journal for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/28/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1845 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Falfurrias |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 78355 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | Brooks County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BKS |
| 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 | 112 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1845 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BKS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 112 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| 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) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 90 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KBKS 272325Z AUTO 07004KT 10SM CLR 20/M01 A3 |
| 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) | 27315 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ASW ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 17 2010 4:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N97EZ |
| NTSB Number | CEN10LA131 |
| 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 | Lacour |
| Aircraft Model | Long-EZE SR7-1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1133 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1475 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 4 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 1732 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Charles B. McDougal |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 13918 Susancrest Dr. |
| Aircraft Owner City | San Antonio |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 78232-4756 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Charles B. McDougal |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 13918 Susancrest Dr. |
| Operator City | San Antonio |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 78232-4756 |
| 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 | SAT |
| Departure City | San Antonio |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1800 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MFE |
| Destination City | McAllen |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2010 1:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | scoa |
| 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 | -- |