Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Green Lake, Wisconsin 54941
Sunday, July 25, 2010 12:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, while on approach to the destination airport, the engine experienced a total loss of power. He selected an uphill-sloped soybean field to make a forced landing and retracted the landing gear. The airplane slid 260 feet before coming to a stop. The airplane sustained firewall damage during the landing sequence. The postaccident investigation revealed several anomalies with the engine that were not in accordance with engine manufacturer's recommended maintenance practices. The No. 2 bearing was dislodged/separated and remnants of it were most likely the metallic debris found in the oil sump and oil filter. The cylinder thru-bolts were found to be tight; however, 19 of the 36 cylinder deck stud nuts were loose. A crack was observed between the No. 4 main bearing saddle on the left half of the crankcase, which extended through the No. 5 main bearing saddle. The pilot reported that the airplane had undergone a top overhaul about 18 flight hours prior to the accident. At the conclusion of the examination, the exact cause of the engine failure could not be definitively identified.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power during descent due to the overhaul facility’s inadequate maintenance.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Green Lake |
| Event State | WISCONSIN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 54941 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 434304N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0890312W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 58 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OSH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 808 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 110 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 27921 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Green Lake County Sheriff |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 2 2010 12:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5443D |
| NTSB Number | CEN10LA433 |
| 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 | BEECH |
| Aircraft Model | H35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-4991 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 20 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 4126 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | N407ML LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wilmington |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Michael A. Lella |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Groveland |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 95321 |
| 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 | PDC |
| Departure City | Prairie Du Chie |
| Departure State | WI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1145 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OSH |
| Destination City | Oshkosh |
| Destination State | WI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 26 2010 5:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sulp |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |