Cessna 152 N93441

Summary

On 24 March 2010 at about 15:15 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N93441, operated by Aero II Inc, was involved in an accident near Moore, South Carolina, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 March 2010 at 15:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Moore, South Carolina, United States

Coordinates

34.8508, -82.0061

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N93441

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Aero II Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Spartanburg → Spartanburg

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA10LA187

Nobody was injured.

The certificated mechanic's improper installation of a helicoil, which resulted in the separation of a sparkplug and the helicoil and led to a partial loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The local instructional flight had departed from the airport about 30 minutes prior to the accident. After completing several aerial maneuvers, including slow flight and power-off stalls, the student pilot had begun a recovery from another power-off stall. When he applied throttle, the engine immediately began to run rough. The certificated flight instructor decided to perform a forced landing in a farm field. During the landing roll, the nosewheel came in contact with the soft soil and the airplane nosed over. A postaccident examination of the engine by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the bottom sparkplug and associated helicoil on the No. 4 cylinder had separated from the cylinder. After new sparkplug and helicoil was installed in the engine, it ran normally. The airplane's engine maintenance logbook showed that four days prior to the accident, the bottom sparkplug and helicoil had been replaced on the No. 4 cylinder due to a bad helicoil. The mechanic had installed a standard helicoil contrary to the engine manufacturer's recommendation to install oversize helicoil spark plug inserts.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.