Pilatus PC-12/45 N96WF

Summary

On 16 October 2002 at about 18:24 local time, a Pilatus PC-12/45 registered N96WF, operated by The Nielsen-Wurster Group, Inc., was involved in an accident near Trenton, New Jersey, United States. 4 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

16 October 2002 at 18:24

Classification

Accident

Location

Trenton, New Jersey, United States

Nearest airport

Trenton Mercer (TTN)

Coordinates

40.2717, -74.8067

Aircraft

Pilatus PC-12/45

Registration

N96WF

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

The Nielsen-Wurster Group, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Executive/Corporate

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Trenton → Washington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC03FA008

1 person had minor injuries.

A power loss, due to failure of the No. 1 bearing, which was a result of previous electrical discharge damage (EDD). Factors were the low ceiling and a wet runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Pilatus PC-12/45 departed into instrument meteorological conditions. Just as the airplane entered clouds, loud bangs were heard from the engine and flame was observed coming the left side engine exhaust. The pilot in command pushed the nose over, aimed the airplane to where he thought the airport was, and the second pilot initiated engine shutdown. The airplane touched down long and fast, on a wet runway. The pilot intentionally yawed the airplane, and it departed the runway in a nose right 60-degree skid, and struck a chain link fence about 300 feet beyond the departure end of the runway. Examination of the engine revealed the #1 bearing had failed. Electrical pitting was found on the gears in the accessory drive between the starter-generator (SG) attach point, and the # 1 bearing. About 704 hour earlier, the SG had an unscheduled replacement. Records indicated that the SG had burn marks on the stator vanes and armature; however, the initiating event for the SG failure was not determined. Other engines were identified as having experienced electrical discharge damage (EDD), all of which preceded the accident. Each event occurred on a multi-engine airplane and resulted in an in-flight shutdown, followed by a single engine landing. None of the starter generators that were identified as the source of the EDD were original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and all had been previously overhauled. Additional engines were identified as having experienced EDD; however, the records on the engines were incomplete, and there was no starter generator history to review. Goodrich published an overhaul manual for the starter-generator. In the manual they stated that only Goodrich replacement parts should be used, and the use of non-Goodrich parts would void their warranty. However, there was no FAA requirement that the overhaul be conducted by an FAA approved repair station, or that only Goodrich parts be used as replacement items

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.