Republic RC 3 N6127K

Summary

On 28 December 1995 at about 22:00 local time, a Republic RC 3 registered N6127K, operated by William Grantham, was involved in an accident near Whitewright, Texas, United States. One person was 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

28 December 1995 at 22:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Whitewright, Texas, United States

Coordinates

33.5094, -96.3905

Aircraft

Republic RC 3

Registration

N6127K

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

William Grantham

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Whiteright → Chandler

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW96LA081

Nobody was injured.

The separation of a spark plug and 4 other spark plugs being 'finger' tight as a result of undertorquing by maintenance personnel when they were reinstalled following inspection. A factor was a lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that shortly after takeoff, the airplane's engine 'stopped and then started up again.' Soon after, the engine started to lose power again. A forced landing was made. When the aircraft was inspected, it was found that one of the spark plugs in each of the number 1, 4, 5, and 6 cylinders were 'finger' tight, and the second spark plug in the number 6 cylinder had completely separated from the cylinder. These plugs were removed by a mechanic for the pre-buy inspection prior to the pilots purchase of the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.