Piper PA-32R-301 N697MA

Summary

On 7 June 2002 at about 18:48 local time, a Piper PA-32R-301 registered N697MA was involved in an accident near Meridian, Mississippi, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 June 2002 at 18:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Meridian, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

Key Field Airport (MEI)

Coordinates

32.3322, -88.7511

Aircraft

Piper PA-32R-301

Registration

N697MA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Meridian → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA02LA108

1 person was seriously injured.

inadequate quality control of the manufacturing processes of the crankshaft gear bolt, resulting in failure of the gear bolt, due to hydrogen embrittlement, a total loss of engine power, and damage to the airplane during the subsequent forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had been airborne for about 45 minutes practicing turns and instrument approaches in VFR condition. He had completed a practice instrument approach to runway 1, was following the published missed approach, and the flight had attained an altitude of about 500 to 600 feet when he reported that he heard a "...loud pop, and the engine quit immediately...[without] warning of the impending engine stoppage." He declared an emergency, was cleared to land, turned left onto a short base leg to runway 1, could not maintain altitude, and he could not make it to the runway. The pilot elected to land in a field, and impacted with trees short of the runway threshold. An engine disassembly revealed that the engine failure was due a broken crankshaft gear bolt, and the separation of the crankshaft gear from the rear of the crankshaft. A laboratory examination of the failed crankshaft gear bolt, revealed that crankshaft bolt part number STD-2209, had failed due to hydrogen embrittlement. The NTSB Materials Laboratory's analysis found that the preponderance of evidence and reference information indicated that the manufacturing cycle (plating/bake delay/bake itself) was the most likely source of hydrogen embrittlement.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.