Diamond DA40 N44HH

Summary

On 29 June 2023 at about 16:22 local time, a Diamond DA40 registered N44HH was involved in an accident near Yorktown Heights, New York, United States. One person was on board and one 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

29 June 2023 at 16:22

Classification

Accident

Location

Yorktown Heights, New York, United States

Coordinates

41.2693, -73.7766

Aircraft

Diamond DA40

Registration

N44HH

Category

Airplane

Year built

2017

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

White Plains → Montgomery

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA23LA285

1 person had minor injuries.

A fatigue failure of the turbocharger housing, which resulted in 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 pilot intended to fly his airplane to an airport for an annual inspection. During the flight, while climbing to cruise altitude, the engine began to lose power. The pilot subsequently attempted a forced landing to a school field. During the forced landing, the airplane was in a steep right bank when the wingtip struck the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the empennage. The postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the diesel engine’s turbocharger induction housing was fractured in half and exhibited signs of an existing fracture surface. Further metallurgical examination revealed that the turbocharger housing separated consistent with fatigue cracking. The fatigue cracking emanated from the outer surface of the housing and proceeded circumferentially. Steps on the fracture surface indicated that fatigue cracking on multiple planes had coalesced into one main fatigue crack. The remainder of the fracture surface had macro features consistent with overstress. Based on this information, it is likely that failure of the turbocharger housing resulted in a reduced quantity of intake air being available to the engine and resulted in the partial loss of engine power described by the pilot.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.