Piper PA-32R-300 N38908

Summary

On 28 May 1999 at about 23:23 local time, a Piper PA-32R-300 registered N38908 was involved in an accident near Valley Springs, California, 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

28 May 1999 at 23:23

Classification

Accident

Location

Valley Springs, California, United States

Coordinates

38.1593, -120.8405

Aircraft

Piper PA-32R-300

Registration

N38908

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Atwater → Cameron Park

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX99LA201

Nobody was injured.

The fatigue failure and separation of the No. 6 connecting rod end cap, which led to a catastrophic failure of the engine. The fatigue crack initiation was due to galling on the rod end cap, which was most likely caused by an undetermined factory manufacturing process error during the engine rebuild.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane had a catastrophic engine failure while the pilot was in cruise flight at 4,500 feet. The pilot declared an emergency and began to perform the emergency checklist. The pilot located a flat field and struck a barbed wire fence during the landing roll, which damaged the wings and collapsed the nose gear. The engine was sent back to the Textron Lycoming factory for materials examination. The No. 6 connecting rod initially fractured through the cap with the fracture most likely initiating from an area of galling on the inner diameter of the cap. The fracture was propagated by a fatigue mechanism until it failed with catastrophic overload. Following the metallurgical examination on the No. 6 connecting rod and associated components, additional disassembly of the engine was accomplished that did not conform to investigative protocols. No measurements were taken of the case through bolt torque or the remaining rod end cap bolt torque. No determination was made whether the bearing inserts were of the correct size or assembled properly in engine build-up. Review of the engine maintenance records disclosed that it was remanufactured by the Lycoming factory in 1991, and had operated 869 hours since rebuild and installation in the airframe. No removal and replacement of cylinders was noted in the records.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.