ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 178692
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| Date: | Saturday 15 August 2015 |
| Time: | 10:02 |
| Type: | Cessna T206H Turbo Stationair |
| Owner/operator: | Stalactite Llc |
| Registration: | N63TV |
| MSN: | T20608925 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2009 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1155 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming TIO-540-AJ1A |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 0,5 mile S of Essex County Airport (KCDW), Caldwell, NJ -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | West Caldwell, NJ (CDW) |
| Teterboro, NJ (TEB) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The commercial pilot was departing in the turbocharged airplane to go to another airport and pick up the owner of the airplane. He contacted the air traffic control tower and received instructions from the controller to taxi to the active runway and hold short. The airplane taxied to the designated location and remained there for about 5 minutes. During this time, a student pilot heard the airplane's engine cycle from near idle to full power about five times and reported that the engine did not "sound right." The pilot requested and received clearance to takeoff, and, shortly after becoming airborne, advised that he had a "problem," declared an emergency, and requested to "return to the field immediately." The controller cleared the pilot to land on any runway, and the pilot reported that he was unable to maintain engine power. There were no other communications from the airplane.
Review of security camera video revealed that the airplane was slow to accelerate and did not rotate until about 1,800 ft down the 4,552-foot-long runway from the point where the pilot initiated the takeoff roll. Once airborne, the airplane began to pitch slightly up and down while remaining in ground effect. Considering that the pilot was the only occupant of the six-seat airplane, the airplane should have become airborne much sooner. Further, there was adequate runway remaining at the point of rotation for the pilot to abort the takeoff and stop on the remaining runway. However, the pilot elected to continue the takeoff.
The airplane climbed slowly, momentarily reaching an altitude that was just above the trees that surrounded the airport, then began to lose altitude, and turned left about 90°. The airplane then disappeared from view of the camera, and a smoke cloud was observed to rise from behind a tree line. Witnesses who observed the airplane just before impact saw the airplane gliding toward the ground "in slow motion" and heard no noise coming from the airplane. The witnesses reported that the airplane then rolled into a steep left bank, entered a nose dive, and exploded when it hit the ground. The witness observations were consistent with the pilot failing to maintain adequate airspeed, resulting in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall.
Examination of the wreckage revealed signatures indicating that the propeller and the turbocharger's turbine wheel were not rotating during the impact sequence, which is indicative of a loss of engine power. The spark plug electrodes displayed evidence of black sooty deposits indicative of carbon fouling. The carbon fouling could have been the result of failure of the turbocharging system, which can result in an overly rich mixture condition so severe as to cause a total power failure.
Examination of the turbocharging system revealed that it had been heavily damaged by the postcrash fire, and only the turbocharger and wastegate were recovered. Examination of the turbocharger revealed that the turbine and compressor wheels, which were interconnected by a shaft, could not be rotated by hand as the shaft had partially fused to the bearings likely as a result of exposure to the postcrash fire. The bearing radial holes were clear, and there were no excessive or abnormal scoring marks on the bearings as would be expected if they were contaminated, distressed, or subject to prolonged oil starvation. There was also no coking of oil in the turbocharger body that would have prevented lubrication of the bearings, and no definitive rotational rub marks that would have suggested excessive bearing wear or imbalance. Examination of the wastegate also did not reveal any anomalies, and the wastegate valve was free and could move through its full range of motion. The wastegate actuator body had been mostly consumed by the postcrash fire; only the valve housing assembly, actuator shaft assembly, springs, and retainer remained.
X-ray examination of the oil supply line check valve, which was located upstream from the turbocharger and regulated the supply of oil that i
Probable Cause: A loss of engine power due to a malfunction of the turbocharging system likely due to contaminated oil. Also causal were the pilot's decision to continue the takeoff although the airplane was not performing normally and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed following the loss of engine power, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident was the engine manufacturer's inadequate guidance regarding inspection and maintenance of its turbocharged engines.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Aug-2015 16:42 | Geno | Added |
| 15-Aug-2015 19:10 | harro | Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Destination airport] |
| 15-Aug-2015 19:11 | harro | Updated [Source] |
| 16-Aug-2015 07:30 | harro | Updated [Narrative] |
| 31-Aug-2015 20:21 | cgseife | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:30 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 22-Sep-2017 17:55 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
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