Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Anderson, Indiana 46011
Monday, July 25, 2011 14:17 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was marking a field in preparation for an aerial application when he experienced what he thought was an engine failure. He stated that the engine was still running, but it was not producing power. The pilot pushed the power lever forward; the engine power did not increase, but the engine temperature increased. He stated that the engine was idling fast and that he forced the airplane into a bean field about 150 to 200 yards ahead of a tree line. The pilot ground looped the airplane before contacting the trees. A postaccident examination of the engine did not reveal any anomalies. A bench test of the propeller governor revealed that the maximum speed was above the nominal limit and the minimum speed was below the nominal limit. The control lever position was set higher than the specified position, which indicated that the governor had been adjusted in an attempt to regulate the propeller speed. X-rays and a teardown revealed that the propeller governor speeder spring was fractured. A metallurgical examination revealed a preexisting fatigue crack that, over time, resulted in the failure of the spring. The failed speeder spring would have resulted in a loss of oil pressure to the propeller piston, which allowed the propeller blades to rotate to a high blade angle, which then decreased the engine speed and overall power output of the engine. Maintenance records showed the propeller governor was overhauled on May 19, 2009. The speeder springs did not have serial numbers, and, therefore, the maintenance history of the speeder spring could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The fatigue failure of the propeller governor speeder spring, which resulted in the pilot’s inability to control engine output power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1417 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Anderson |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46011 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400851N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0853227W |
| 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 | 1353 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 65 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MIE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 937 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.96 |
| 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) | 31514 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2013 11:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N92640 |
| NTSB Number | CEN11LA512 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | WSK PZL MIELEC |
| Aircraft Model | M-18A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1Z025-22 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 15 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2934 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CANAM AVIATORS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | POND CREEK |
| Aircraft Owner State | OK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 73766-9613 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | FOREST AIR SERVICES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | New Symrna Beach |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | FRSG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | FRSG720L |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Marion |
| Departure State | IN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1335 |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Marion |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 12 2013 3:10PM |
| User who most recently changed record | sulp |
| 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 | -- |