Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Casa Grande, Arizona 85222
Friday, February 18, 2011 9:58 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine began losing power immediately after takeoff, and the pilot executed a forced landing in a rough, uneven field. The main landing gear sheared off, and the airframe sustained substantial damage. Postaccident examination of the engine determined that the No. 4 cylinder exhaust valve rocker box was detached from the head of the cylinder. Three of the six attaching studs where broken, and the other three studs had pulled out of the head. One of the three studs that had pulled out was rounded off, indicating that it had been loose in the head for some time. The adjacent stud was also rounded off, but not as much, and the final stud had no signs of rounding off. It is likely that the separation of the rocker box resulted in the partial loss of engine power because the exhaust valve for the No. 4 cylinder could no longer open and close properly, which allowed exhaust gases to migrate through the No. 4 cylinder's intake valve and into the induction system.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The partial loss of engine power due to the separation of an exhaust valve rocker box as a result of the failure of the rocker box attaching studs.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/18/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 958 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Casa Grande |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85222 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 375200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1114600W |
| 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 | 935 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KCGZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.06 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29752 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA AWP 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 | Apr 25 2012 8:39PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | NC25545 |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA140 |
| 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 | REARWIN |
| Aircraft Model | 8135 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 822 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert L Copeland Trust |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chandler |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85225 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robert L Copeland Trust |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Chandler |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85225 |
| 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 | E60 |
| Departure City | Eloy |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 943 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | CHD |
| Destination City | Chandler |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 29 2012 4:31PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |