Cirrus SR22 N358CD

Summary

On 19 February 2015 at about 19:40 local time, a Cirrus SR22 registered N358CD, operated by Optimal Aircraft Management LLC, was involved in an accident near Lexington, Kentucky, United States. 3 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

19 February 2015 at 19:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Lexington, Kentucky, United States

Nearest airport

Blue Grass (LEX)

Coordinates

38.0333, -84.6056

Aircraft

Cirrus SR22

Registration

N358CD

Category

Airplane

Year built

2004

Engines

1

Operator

Optimal Aircraft Management LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lexington → Pontiac

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15LA134

Nobody was injured.

Maintenance personnel's failure to properly inspect and clean the engine ignition harness spark plug terminals, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power during an attempted takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot reported that he conducted a preflight inspection and engine-run-up with no anomalies noted. The pilot then taxied the airplane to the runway and began the takeoff roll for his planned personal cross-country flight. The airplane lifted off the runway and climbed to about 200 ft above ground level, at which point, the engine "backfired" several times, followed by a partial loss of power. The pilot chose to discontinue the flight, retarded the throttle to idle, and initiated a descent to land on the remaining runway; however, the pilot was unable to stop the airplane, and it overran the runway and collided with the precision approach path indicator lights and a snowbank. Postaccident test runs of the engine with a new set of magnetos and the original ignition harness revealed that the likely cause of the loss of engine power was related to the ignition harness. Subsequent examination of the ignition harness revealed the presence of radial carbon tracks on the sleeves of 8 of the 12 terminals on the harness. The harness and its terminal wells were in generally dirty condition, which likely resulted in spark plugs erratically misfiring. Although one of the engine's magnetos internal mechanisms was damaged, the damage was likely the result of the engine misfiring. According to an engine manufacturer service bulletin (SB), the ignition harness spark plug terminals should be removed, inspected, and cleaned at each annual inspection. The engine logbook indicated that the spark plugs were "cleaned, gapped, and inspected" during the last annual inspection, which was completed about 14 flight hours before the accident. However, the logbooks did not note compliance with the SB or whether the ignition harness spark plug terminal, and not just the spark plugs, had been inspected and/or cleaned. Given the generally dirty condition of the ignition harness spark plug terminals, it is likely that maintenance personnel did not properly inspect and clean the ignition harness terminals in accordance with the SB.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.