ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 358749
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Date: | Saturday 1 July 1995 |
Time: | 11:50 LT |
Type: | Rutan VariEze |
Owner/operator: | Private |
Registration: | C-GMEZ |
MSN: | M001 |
Total airframe hrs: | 740 hours |
Engine model: | Subaru EA-81 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | Malone, NY -
United States of America
|
Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
Nature: | Private |
Departure airport: | (KMAL) |
Destination airport: | |
Investigating agency: | NTSB |
Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:THE PILOT APPLIED POWER AT THE COMPLETION OF A LOW PASS OVER A RUNWAY AND NOTICED A VIBRATION 1 TO 2 SECONDS LATER. THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A LOSS OF PROPELLER THRUST AND HIGH ENGINE RPM. THE PILOT SECURED THE ENGINE, AND DUE TO THE LOCATION OF PERSONNEL AND TREES, INITIATED A TURN BACK TO THE RUNWAY. AT THE COMPLETION OF THE TURN, HIS APPROACH TO THE RUNWAY WAS OBSTRUCTED BY ANOTHER AIRPLANE, AND THE PILOT LANDED IN A ROUGH FIELD ADJACENT TO THE RUNWAY. DURING THE LANDING ROLL, THE MAIN LANDING GEAR AND LEFT WING SEPARATED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS EQUIPPED WITH A SUBARU ENGINE AND A ONE-OF-A-KIND, THREE-BEARING, PROPELLER SPEED REDUCTION UNIT (PSRU). THE THREE-BEARING PSRU HAD REPLACED A PRODUCTION TWO-BEARING PSRU, WHICH HAD ACCUMULATED 125 HOURS SUCCESSFULLY. EXAMINATION OF THE PSRU REVEALED THAT THE PROPELLER SHAFT FAILED NEAR THE CENTER BEARING. THIS WAS DUE TO THERMAL EXPANSION OF A MOUNTING PLATE, WHICH RESULTED IN A BENDING OF THE SHAFT AT THE CENTER BEARING.
Probable Cause: failure of the propeller speed reduction unit due to an inadequate design change by the manufacturer, which resulted in a complete loss of thrust. A factor was the rough terrain.
Accident investigation:
|
| |
Investigating agency: | NTSB |
Report number: | NYC95LA137 |
Status: | Investigation completed |
Duration: | 1 year and 4 months |
Download report: | Final report |
|
Sources:
NTSB NYC95LA137
Location
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
14-Mar-2024 17:48 |
ASN Update Bot |
Added |
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