Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Panola County Arpt-Sharpe Fld Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carthage, Texas 75633
Tuesady, August 7, 2012 9:45 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine lost partial power without warning during a pipeline patrol flight at 500 feet above ground level. The airplane impacted logs during a forced landing on a logging site. A postaccident examination revealed that the No. 1 cylinder intake valve was not present under its rocker arm tip and that its retainers were worn, deformed, and segmented in the bottom of its rocker box. The tip of the rocker arm was worn consistent with the rocker arm contacting the upper valve stem and its retainer. Inboard of the tip, the rocker arm exhibited a wear mark consistent with contact with the valve spring retainer. Further, the piston exhibited impact marks consistent with valve contact, and the No. 1 intake port exhibited a hole consistent with a liberated valve stem impacting the side of the intake port. It is likely that, when sufficient rocker arm wear occurred, the intake valve was released. The liberated valve was found in pieces in the Nos. 3 and 4 intake tubes. The No. 1 intake valve examination revealed no indications of fatigue in any of the fractures, and the valve face did not exhibit erosion or wear. The intake valve and its guide exhibited no evidence indicating that the valve was stuck. The Nos. 2 through 4 intake valve rocker arms were sectioned, and they met the minimum overhaul hardness specifications, but the depth of the carburized case layer was somewhat shallow consistent with its having been resurfaced during overhaul, which the engine had undergone 878.5 hours before the accident. The wear damage to the failed rocker arm tip precluded the determination of the depth of its carburized layer. However, it is likely that the rocker arm tip’s wear occurred because of the thin carburized case layer.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power during a low-level aerial observation flight as the result of the wearing of the rocker arm tip due to a thin carburized case layer, which resulted in a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/7/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Carthage |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 75633 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 321034N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0941755W |
| Event Location Airport | Panola County Arpt-Sharpe Fld |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 4F2 |
| 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 | 248 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 935 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 359 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ASL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 357 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 21 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KASL 071435Z AUTO 26003KT 10SM CLR 30/22 A3001 |
| 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) | 32794 |
| NTSB Notification Source | DFW FSDO, Insp. Chris Doherty |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2013 4:43PM |
| User who most recently changed record | male |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N17201 |
| NTSB Number | CEN12LA524 |
| 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 | 177B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17702517 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Jan 23 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 9212.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SCOTT JOHN D |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | QUENEMO |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 66528-8120 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Hawkeye Helicopter |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Ottawa |
| Operator State | KS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 66067 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SHV |
| Departure City | Shreveport |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 830 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | SHV |
| Destination City | Shreveport |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 14 2013 10:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | male |
| 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 | -- |