Dwyer Michael D Q N3QP

Summary

On 17 March 2022 at about 15:30 local time, a Dwyer Michael D Q registered N3QP was involved in an accident near Spring Hill, Florida, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 March 2022 at 15:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Spring Hill, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Brookville-Tampa Bay Regional (BKV)

Coordinates

28.4918, -82.4876

Aircraft

Dwyer Michael D Q

Registration

N3QP

Category

Airplane

Year built

1985

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Saint Petersburg → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA22LA159

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s improper modification of the pull starter motor, which resulted in its failure and the subsequent loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot was also the owner and builder of the experimental amateur-built airplane. While returning to the airport after a local flight, the engine lost oil pressure, so the pilot diverted toward the nearest airport. The engine then began to run roughly and lost partial power. The airplane was not able to glide to the runway and collided with a ditch in a field during the forced landing. The pilot described that his postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the pinion gear on the pull starter motor fractured into several pieces that entered the accessory gear case, likely seizing the oil pump. About 4 years and 100 flight hours before the accident, the pilot had modified the pull starter motor from its original design so that the motor would fit in the airplane. Postaccident metallurgical examination found that the pull starter motor’s pivot lever was shortened. The pivot lever arm was designed to move the starter clutch and engage the pinion (small) gear to the crankshaft gear. The pinion gear teeth displayed indentations in their surfaces that indicated that they were only partially engaged to the crankshaft gear when the starter was being operated, a condition which was likely the result of the shortened pivot lever. This ultimately resulted in increased stress on the gear teeth during engine start and the subsequent failure of the gear in overstress. The liberated gear teeth likely damaged and seized the engine oil pump, and resulted in the partial loss of engine power.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.