Piper PA-34-200 N15156

Summary

On 7 June 2007 at about 20:45 local time, a Piper PA-34-200 registered N15156, operated by Cloud Dancer Aviation, was involved in an accident near New Smyrna Beac, Florida, United States. 3 people were on board and 2 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

7 June 2007 at 20:45

Classification

Accident

Location

New Smyrna Beac, Florida, United States

Coordinates

29.0506, -80.9583

Aircraft

Piper PA-34-200

Registration

N15156

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Cloud Dancer Aviation

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Daytona Beach → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI07LA167

2 people had minor injuries.

The propeller blade separation from the propeller hub due to a fatigue fracture of the hub while in cruise flight. A factor was the embankment.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The certified flight instructor (CFI) reported that they were about to practice an engine failure at 6,000 feet mean sea level (msl). Upon shutting off fuel with the right fuel selector valve, a propeller blade separated from the right engine, and an unknown part penetrated the windshield. The CFI reported that the right engine "came almost completely apart and off in a matter of two seconds." The right engine was canted and hanging down, and altitude could not be maintained. The CFI maintained sufficient airspeed to maintain control during the descent, but he elected to do a forced landing to a field as a result of the loss of altitude. The airplane impacted the side of a creek during the forced landing, and ended right side up in about three feet of water in a creek. The Hartzell two bladed propeller hub and other components from the propeller assembly were sent to the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) Materials Laboratory for examination. The hub from the right engine of the airplane was a left hand rotating (counterclockwise viewed from the rear) propeller. The inspection revealed that the hub was fractured around the socket for blade #1 (designated by serial number location) through both the forward and aft halves of the hub. The fracture surface contained features consistent with fatigue crack progression generally away from the grease fitting hole. The entire fatigue region measured about 3.1 inches in length from the grease fitting hole to near the forward centerline of the blade socket. On September 17, 2007, Hartzell Propeller Inc., issued an Alert Service Bulletin "HC-1SB-61-297, Propeller Hub Inspection." The bulletin stated in part: (1) There was a recent blade separation event originating in the lubrication hole located on the shoulder of the hub blade socket installed in a "left-hand" rotating propeller. (2) This Alert Service Bulletin introduces an initial and repetitive eddy current inspection of the area around the lubrication holes on "left-hand" rotating propellers on certain aircraft models.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.