Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gerrardstown, West Virginia 25420
Monday, April 16, 2012 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, after about 2 1/2 hours of local flight, while maneuvering at 3,000 feet, the airplane's rotary engine coolant temperature rose. As the pilot turned the airplane back toward the departure airport, the engine seized and would not turn over during an attempted restart. The pilot performed a forced landing in a field, and the airplane nosed over. The pilot, who was also the airplane's builder, subsequently disassembled the engine and found that the stationary gear/bearing was frozen to the eccentric shaft. The pilot also reported that he had recently attempted to fine tune the engine by having the side and intermediate housings undergo lap grinding. The pilot knew the grinding would require wider spacers, which he used, but which may have still been insufficient in width. The insufficient width resulted in bearing oil hole misalignment on the eccentric shaft, which blocked oil from reaching the rotating engine and reduction drive shaft parts.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot/builder's misjudgment of the required spacer width needed after engine housing lap grinding, which resulted in bearing oil hole misalignment and insufficient internal engine lubrication.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/16/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gerrardstown |
| Event State | WEST VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 25420 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 392106N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0780559W |
| 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 | 1453 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 565 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| 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) | 30770 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Local Law Enforcement |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 30 2012 2:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5025G |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA293 |
| 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 | PRENDERGAST JOHN/VANS |
| Aircraft Model | RV-7A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 71591 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 19 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 60 |
| Airframe Hours | 290 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIRNAV CORP |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3511 SILVERSIDE RD STE 105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19810-4902 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | John Prendergast |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Sterling |
| Operator State | VA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 20165 |
| 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 | MRB |
| Departure City | Martinsburg |
| Departure State | WV |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1230 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | MRB |
| Destination City | Martinsburg |
| Destination State | WV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 30 2012 2:49PM |
| 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 | -- |