ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 293717
This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can submit corrected information.
| Date: | Tuesday 31 May 2005 |
| Time: | 17:45 LT |
| Type: |  Piper PA-32R-300 |
| Owner/operator: | Ram Air Freight Inc |
| Registration: | N333TG |
| MSN: | 32R-7680320 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1976 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 6770 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-540 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Fort Myers, Florida -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Unknown |
| Nature: | Unknown |
| Departure airport: | Fort Myers-Page Field, FL (FMY/KFMY) |
| Naples Airport, FL (APF/KAPF) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The pilot stated that no abnormalities were noted during a thorough preflight inspection or during the walk around. The takeoff roll and initial climb were uneventful, at about 300 feet above the ground, the top cowling of the engine separated and struck the right side of the windshield and the right side of the horizontal stabilator. The pilot returned to the airport and landed without further incident. The center portion of the top engine cowling was not recovered. The right portion of the top engine cowling separated in-flight but was recovered, and the left portion of the top engine cowling remained attached to its two latch points. Examination of the right portion of the cowling revealed that the forward latch was broken and separated in half. Both the forward and aft latches were bent, twisted aft, and canted aft. Examination of the left portion of the cowling revealed no apparent damage to the latches. The accident airplane had a previous incident on October 22, 2003, in which the top engine cowling separated during climb out and impacted the windshield. The airplane returned to the airport and landed without further incident also. Examination of the maintenance records revealed that following the incident in 2003, the top engine cowling was replaced by a cowling which had accumulated 11,800 flight hours at the time of the replacement. That cowling subsequently had actions performed to it, including two repairs of the fiberglass structure accomplished on July 7, 2004 and September 14, 2004. The latter of these repairs addressed a crack at the forward area of the top cowling.
Probable Cause: Inadequate maintenance and repair of the engine top cowling by company maintenance personnel, resulting in failure and separation of the cowling in flight.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB MIA05LA116
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Oct-2022 12:39 | ASN Update Bot | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:
| ASN Home | Send Correction / Feedback |
| FSF Home | Disclaimer | Copyright |
| Contact Us | Privacy Policy |
| Press / Media |
CONNECT WITH US:
©2024 Flight Safety Foundation