Field VARI-EZE CGMEZ

Summary

On 1 July 1995 at about 15:50 local time, a Field VARI-EZE registered CGMEZ was involved in an accident near Malone, New York, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

1 July 1995 at 15:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Malone, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Malone-Dufort (MAL)

Coordinates

44.8399, -74.2902

Aircraft

Field VARI-EZE

Registration

CGMEZ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC95LA137

Nobody was injured.

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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB 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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.