Cessna 207A N73100

Summary

On 5 July 2000 at about 03:10 local time, a Cessna 207A registered N73100 was involved in an incident near Deadhorse, Alaska, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 July 2000 at 03:10

Classification

Incident

Location

Deadhorse, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Deadhorse (SCC)

Coordinates

70.4295, -149.2893

Aircraft

Cessna 207A

Registration

N73100

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Deadhorse → Nuiqsut

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC00IA083

Nobody was injured.

An in-flight fracture of the engine crankshaft propeller flange. A factor associated with the accident was the manufacturer's inadequate quality control standards.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The certificated airline transport reported that about 10 minutes after departure, while in cruise, level flight, he noted a light sheen of oil forming on the windshield, and he elected to return to his departure airport. He noted that by the time he was within two miles of the airport he was having difficulty seeing though the windshield due to a heavy accumulation of oil. He said that while on approach to the airport, the propeller rpm increased for about 20 seconds, followed by the propeller detaching from the engine. He said that he was able to glide the airplane to the runway, and land without further incident. A postincident investigation revealed that the engine had been rebuilt/zero-timed by Teledyne Continental Motors, 9.0 hours of operation, and 3 days before the incident. A Safety Board metallurgist examined the fractured crankshaft flange, and reported that his initial visual examination revealed that about one-half of the fracture was on a flat plane and contained crack arrest positions, features indicative of fatigue cracking. He added that the primary fatigue initiation appeared to be from a very large number of individual initiation sites in the center of the fatigue region.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.