Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pickens County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Pickens, South Carolina 29657
Sunday, July 22, 2012 17:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A few minutes after leveling the airplane at a cruise altitude of 9,000 feet mean sea level, the pilot felt the engine slightly vibrate or “wiggle.” The propeller rpm then began to rise rapidly, and the pilot noted an engine oil pressure warning on the primary flight display. After unsuccessfully troubleshooting the engine problems, the pilot secured the engine and declared an emergency. An air traffic controller informed the pilot of an airport 4 miles from his location, and he turned the airplane toward that airport and prepared for an emergency landing. The pilot again unsuccessfully attempted to restart the engine and then resecured it while on the downwind leg of the airport traffic pattern. When the pilot turned the airplane toward the base leg of the traffic pattern at 1,200 feet, he added one notch of flaps, at which point, he felt the handling characteristics of the airplane change, and it began to feel “mushy.” He then retracted the flaps, and the condition worsened. As the airplane descended through 1,000 feet, the pilot thought that he had “lost control of the airplane” and decided to activate the airframe emergency parachute. The parachute deployed, and, within seconds, the airplane settled into trees about 2 miles from the airport. The airplane remained suspended in the trees until emergency personnel arrived on scene and rescued the occupants.
After the accident, the presence of oil was noted on the underside of the airplane. After the airplane was recovered from the trees, examination of the oil dipstick revealed small pieces of metal in the engine oil. Examination of the engine revealed that the crankshaft was fractured and that the crankcase exhibited varying degrees of fretting and lock-slot elongation on the main bearing supports, which is consistent with the application of insufficient torque on the cylinder through-bolts by maintenance personnel. New cylinders had been installed on the engine 113 hours before the accident. Because the cylinders were loose, the oil supply at the No. 2 main journal was shut off and the crankshaft broke, which resulted in the subsequent loss of oil pressure to the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A total loss of engine power due to the failure of the crankshaft, which resulted from the application of insufficient torque on the cylinder through-bolts by maintenance personnel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/22/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1705 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Pickens |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29657 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 344836N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0824210W |
| Event Location Airport | Pickens County Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LQK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 2 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 1013 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1715 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 50 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LQK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1013 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 2 |
| 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) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32434 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2014 4:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N138CK |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA473 |
| 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 | CIRRUS DESIGN CORP |
| Aircraft Model | SR-22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3492 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | Sep 1 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 402 |
| Airframe Hours | 1365 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CAIR LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4510 WEYBRIDGE LN |
| Aircraft Owner City | GREENSBORO |
| Aircraft Owner State | NC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 27407-7855 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | CAIR LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4510 WEYBRIDGE LN |
| Operator City | GREENSBORO |
| Operator State | NC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 27407-7855 |
| 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 | RYY |
| Departure City | Atlanta |
| Departure State | GA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1600 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | GSO |
| Destination City | Greensboro |
| Destination State | NC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2014 4:45PM |
| 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 | -- |