Alexander VAN'S RV-8 N41VA

Summary

On 10 July 1999 at about 22:20 local time, a Alexander VAN'S RV-8 registered N41VA was involved in an accident near Lafayette, Oregon, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 July 1999 at 22:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Lafayette, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

45.2407, -123.1103

Aircraft

Alexander VAN'S RV-8

Registration

N41VA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Scapoose → Independence

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA99FA113

1 person died.

Fatigue of the number two connecting rod end resulting in a fracture at the rod end and release from the crankshaft, an ensuing in-flight fuel fed fire, followed by the pilot's abandoning the aircraft in flight. A contributing factor was pressure on the pilot induced by the conditions/events (in-flight fire entering the upper cockpit).

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While en route during an unknown phase of operation, the O-360-A1A engine, which had been overhauled by a facility in Canada and converted with 'high compression' pistons/cylinders, developed a partial power loss after about 35 hours of total operation. Metallurgical examination revealed that the #2 connecting rod fractured in two places due to fatigue at the rod end resulting in release of the rod from the crankshaft. No evidence of engine disassembly or maintenance by the owner/builder was found. Post-crash examination revealed holes in the upper engine case and disintegration of the #1 piston. A witness reported observing the aircraft at low altitude over gently rolling terrain trailing black smoke during which the pilot was observed to exit the aircraft. The aircraft rolled into a descending right turn and impacted the terrain 600 feet from the pilot's ground impact, and a post-crash explosion and fired ensued. Reconstruction of portions of the aircraft revealed sooting and evidence of pre-impact fire forward of the firewall in the vicinity of the gascolator as well as pre-impact heat damage to the Plexiglas windscreen and canopy. The only evidence of heat/fire distress observed during post-mortem was the pilot's eyebrows and forward hairline. The aircraft's canopy is airfoil shaped and during flight conditions would tend to create an aerodynamic low pressure condition near the top of the canopy. If the canopy were opened in flight with fire conditions existing along its forward exterior surface, the entrainment of hot air and fire within the upper cockpit interior environment may have become intolerable for the pilot.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.