Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carbondale, Illinois 62966
Friday, March 11, 2011 12:07 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, during cruise flight, the airplane experienced a momentary loss of engine power. While diverting to the nearest airport and completing the emergency checklist items, the engine lost total power, and the pilot chose to make a forced landing to a nearby field. During the landing roll, the airplane's right wing struck a power utility pole before the airplane impacted a ditch and came to rest in a nose-low attitude. A postaccident engine examination revealed that the piston for the No. 2 cylinder had fractured into numerous pieces. Additionally, the exhaust valve head for the No. 2 cylinder had fractured perpendicular to the stem direction where the valve protrudes into the cylinder head during normal operation. The fracture surface of the exhaust valve stem exhibited a series of crack arrest marks consistent with a fatigue crack propagation. Oxidization of the fracture surface was consistent with prolonged exposure to a combustion environment. The fatigue fracture was likely due to extreme temperature gradients experienced along the exhaust valve in the area above the valve seat. A review of available flight data established that the engine had been operated in a manner consistent with the pilot operating handbook. However, without a complete historical flight data record, it was not possible to determine if the engine had been operated outside of its normal operating limits at some point since its original manufacture.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue fracture and subsequent failure of the No. 2 cylinder exhaust valve during cruise flight, which resulted in a total loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/11/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1207 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Carbondale |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 62966 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 374204N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0891457W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1152 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MDH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 411 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KMDH 111752Z VRB06KT 10SM SCT250 10/M01 A301 |
| 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) | 32126 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA - Great Lakes ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 13 2013 3:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N521RT |
| NTSB Number | CEN11FA227 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | LANCAIR |
| Aircraft Model | LC41-550FG |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 41030 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | Mar 1 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 241 |
| Airframe Hours | 501 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robertson Contractors, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Poplar Bluff |
| Aircraft Owner State | MO |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 63901-6121 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robertson Contractors, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Poplar Bluff |
| Operator State | MO |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 63901-6121 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| 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) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | EYE |
| Departure City | Indianapolis |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1049 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | POF |
| Destination City | Poplar Bluff |
| Destination State | MO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 21 2013 3:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | foxt |
| 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 | -- |