Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alachua, Florida 32615
Tuesady, March 15, 2011 13:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While the pilot was maneuvering the airplane to set up a visual approach, the engine lost partial power. The pilot attempted to restore full engine power but was unsuccessful. Subsequently, he made a forced landing in a field, and the airplane nosed over. A postaccident examination of the engine revealed that it would only partially rotate by hand with resistance. Further examination revealed that the camshaft gear was missing nine teeth and that one tooth was damaged. The crankshaft gear was missing four consecutive teeth, and one tooth was missing from another location on the gear. A metallurgical evaluation of the camshaft gear, crankshaft gear, an exhaust valve, and a lifter revealed that the components met all the material properties requirements. The fracture surfaces on the camshaft and crankshaft gears were damaged due to post-separation contact. Debris from the oil sump was identified as nitrided gear material and lifter fragments. The engine had accumulated about 12 hours of operating time since its most recent inspection, which included an oil change. At the time of the accident, the engine had accumulated a total time of 750.7 hours. According to the owner and the engine maintenance log, no propeller strikes had occurred since the engine was installed on the airframe.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to the failure of the camshaft gear teeth and crankshaft gear teeth for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Alachua |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32615 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 295417N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823054W |
| 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 | 1353 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GNV |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 152 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| 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) | 29932 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Orlando FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2012 6:25PM |
| User who most recently changed record | snyg |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N430ML |
| NTSB Number | ERA11LA190 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18263045 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 15 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5050 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ARMSTRONG EQUIPMENT LEASING CO |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | PLANTATION |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33313-4579 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ARMSTRONG EQUIPMENT LEASING CO |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | PLANTATION |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33313-4579 |
| 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 | LEE |
| Departure City | Leesburg |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1340 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 15FL |
| Destination City | Lake City |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 22 2012 3:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| 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 | -- |