Jaeger SONERAI II-L N247RJ

Summary

On 17 April 1998 at about 20:45 local time, a Jaeger SONERAI II-L registered N247RJ was involved in an accident near Bicknell, Indiana, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 April 1998 at 20:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Bicknell, Indiana, United States

Coordinates

38.7697, -87.3003

Aircraft

Jaeger SONERAI II-L

Registration

N247RJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Junction City → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI98LA128

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot misjudged his altitude and airspeed during an emergency landing attempt. Factors associated with this accident were a manufacturing defect in the magneto drive coupling and a total failure of the ignition system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While at cruise altitude, the pilot said he noticed a burning smell after he had operated the experimental airplane's auxiliary fuel pump. He said he did not notice any changes in the engine indications. He said, 'Approximately 1-minute later I noticed the reduction in engine power... .' He said he decided to make a precautionary landing on a road. When the pilot reduced the engine's power setting, the engine experienced a total loss of power. The pilot said the airplane '...built up excessive speed...' during its descent. During the landing, the airplane encountered ground affect and did not touch down as the pilot had intended. While in ground affect the airplane collided with a telephone pole and bridge frame before colliding with a ditch and coming to rest. The on-scene investigation revealed that the airplane's engine driven magneto experienced a drive coupling failure. The coupling had fractured into 4 pieces. One face on two of the four pieces had a surface with beach marks on them and no shear lips along their edges. These two faces matched each other. The remaining fracture surfaces had a coarse texture with shear lips along their edges.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.