Smysor Kevin VELOCITY N45YV

Summary

On 9 May 2009 at about 18:17 local time, a Smysor Kevin VELOCITY registered N45YV was involved in an accident near Katy, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 May 2009 at 18:17

Classification

Accident

Location

Katy, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Houston Executive Airport (TME)

Coordinates

29.7856, -95.8583

Aircraft

Smysor Kevin VELOCITY

Registration

N45YV

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Katy → Katy

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN09LA288

1 person died.

The pilot's loss of control following an in-flight failure of the propeller.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane's experimental two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller had recently been replaced with an experimental three-bladed constant-speed propeller. The pilot was flight testing the new propeller at the time of the accident. During the third flight of the day, one of the propeller's blades separated from the propeller hub during flight. The pilot lost control of the airplane and entered an uncontrolled descent. The airplane impacted in a flat, lightly wooded area. Flight control continuity was confirmed and no preimpact anomalies were discovered with the airplane's engine or other airplane systems. An examination of the propeller conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board Materials Laboratory discovered several areas of disbonding with signatures of low adhesion between the propeller shank, adhesive, and propeller ferrule.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.