Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lehigh Valley International Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Allentown, Pennsylvania 18103
Friday, October 12, 2012 18:35 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the initial climb, the engine lost partial power, and the flight instructor performed a forced landing into a cornfield. During a subsequent test-run of the engine, the engine would lose all power if only the right magneto was selected. Laboratory examination of the right magneto revealed that seven teeth from its drive gear were fractured and exhibited single-sided bending fatigue, consistent with applied force in one direction over a period of time. At the time of the accident, the engine had accumulated about 2,300 hours since overhaul, which had been completed about 7 years prior. The accident magnetos had not been replaced or serviced since they were installed during engine overhaul. The engine manufacturer recommended overhauling the engine every 2,000 hours or 12 years, which would have included replacing the magnetos with new or overhauled units. Additionally, a service bulletin issued by the magneto manufacturer recommended inspecting the magnetos every 500 hours; however, there was no evidence that an inspection was ever performed during the 2,300-hour life of the failed magneto.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The operator's failure to perform magneto inspections per the manufacturer's recommendations and failure to comply with the engine manufacturer's recommended time interval for engine overhaul, which resulted in defects in the magnetos going undetected and the failure of the right magneto during initial climb.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/12/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1835 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Allentown |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 18103 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403008N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0752626W |
| Event Location Airport | Lehigh Valley International |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ABE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 394 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1851 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 130 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 394 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 330 |
| 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) | 30.33 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 31238 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 4 2013 2:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N15037 |
| NTSB Number | ERA13LA025 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-140 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7225560 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1942 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| 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 | Aug 22 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 72 |
| Airframe Hours | 8946 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | YIALAMAS CONSTANTINE G |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | NAZARETH |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 18064 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ACE PILOT TRAINING INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | ALLENTOWN |
| Operator State | PA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 18109 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ABE |
| Departure City | Allentown |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1835 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | ABE |
| Destination City | Allentown |
| Destination State | PA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 26 2013 3:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 31 |
| Runway Length | 5797 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |