Accident Gulfstream American AA-5B Tiger N28005,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 199255
 
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Date:Monday 28 August 2017
Time:09:06
Type:Silhouette image of generic AA5 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Gulfstream American AA-5B Tiger
Owner/operator:Private
Registration: N28005
MSN: AA5B-0937
Year of manufacture:1978
Total airframe hrs:1506 hours
Engine model:Lycoming O-360-A4K
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:South of Southern Illinois Airport (KMDH), Carbondale/Murphysboro, IL -   United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature:Private
Departure airport:Louisville, KY (LOU)
Destination airport:Oklahoma City, OK (PWA)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The private pilot reported that, about 1 1/2 hours after departure and in cruise flight about 6,700 ft mean sea level, he felt a "jolt" as if the airplane had impacted an object. The pilot realized that the propeller was missing, initiated an emergency descent, and attempted to land at a nearby airport. Unable to glide to the airport, he decided to perform a forced landing to a field. During the forced landing, the airplane impacted trees and terrain and came to rest upright. Propeller sections and components were located about 9 miles from the accident site.

Material examination of the propeller revealed that the propeller fractured due to fatigue that initiated adjacent to two of the propeller attachment bolt holes. Fretting contact damage was observed at the primary fatigue initiation location. The contact damage appeared to be associated with the movement between the forward bulkhead and the propeller at the edges of the attachment bolt clamping locations, and some of the fretting contact damage likely preceded crack initiation in the propeller. Fatigue cracks were present in the forward bulkhead outboard of each of the propeller attachment holes. The symmetric nature of the cracks at all 6 holes and the locations of fatigue initiation at the forward and aft sides of the bulkhead suggest that the fatigue in the forward bulkhead could be associated with a rotational torque vibration in the spinner. Possible sources for high rotational torque vibration include looseness in the spinner attachment at the aft bulkhead or an engine issue that produced excessive rotational impulses.

Excessive clamping force from the attachment bolts may have also contributed to the initiation of fatigue cracks in the forward bulkhead. Excessive clamping force could have warped the forward bulkhead adjacent to the clamped area, leading to higher stresses in areas around the attachment holes where fatigue cracking was observed. The analysis of deposits from the threaded area within the crankshaft lug pieces suggested lubricant may have been present on the attachment bolt threads that should have been installed dry. The use of lubricant at installation would have reduced the frictional resistance to the applied torque, leading to higher than expected clamping force on the attachment bolts.

Crack arrest marks that appeared to coincide with flight cycles were observed on the fracture surface. One of the crack arrest marks would have a very high probability of detection by fluorescent penetrant inspection (FPI); however, the presence of red deposits in the attachment holes and dowel holes suggest that red dye (visible) penetrant was used at some time on the propeller. The manufacturer recommends against using visible dye penetrant and indicates that the use of visible dye penetrant could prevent crack detection during subsequent FPI inspections.





Probable Cause: The failure of the propeller due to fatigue as a result of improper installation by unknown maintenance personnel at some point during the life of the propeller.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: CEN17LA333
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 6 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB

FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=28005

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
28-Aug-2017 17:08 Geno Added
22-Mar-2019 19:11 ASN Update Bot Updated [Time, Operator, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Accident report, ]

Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description

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