ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 353267
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| Date: | Friday 28 May 1999 |
| Time: | 16:23 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-32R-300 |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N38908 |
| MSN: | 32R-7780487 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1977 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2857 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-540-K1G5D |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Valley Springs, CA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Atwater, CA (KMER) |
| Cameron Park, CA (061 | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The airplane had a catastrophic engine failure while the pilot was in cruise flight at 4,500 feet. The pilot declared an emergency and began to perform the emergency checklist. The pilot located a flat field and struck a barbed wire fence during the landing roll, which damaged the wings and collapsed the nose gear. The engine was sent back to the Textron Lycoming factory for materials examination. The No. 6 connecting rod initially fractured through the cap with the fracture most likely initiating from an area of galling on the inner diameter of the cap. The fracture was propagated by a fatigue mechanism until it failed with catastrophic overload. Following the metallurgical examination on the No. 6 connecting rod and associated components, additional disassembly of the engine was accomplished that did not conform to investigative protocols. No measurements were taken of the case through bolt torque or the remaining rod end cap bolt torque. No determination was made whether the bearing inserts were of the correct size or assembled properly in engine build-up. Review of the engine maintenance records disclosed that it was remanufactured by the Lycoming factory in 1991, and had operated 869 hours since rebuild and installation in the airframe. No removal and replacement of cylinders was noted in the records.
Probable Cause: The fatigue failure and separation of the No. 6 connecting rod end cap, which led to a catastrophic failure of the engine. The fatigue crack initiation was due to galling on the rod end cap, which was most likely caused by an undetermined factory manufacturing process error during the engine rebuild.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB LAX99LA201
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 19 January 1990 | N38908 | Disbrow, Eric | 0 | Sacramento, CA | |
sub |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Mar-2024 12:09 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
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