Cessna 150 N18022

Summary

On 3 December 1998 at about 19:30 local time, a Cessna 150 registered N18022, operated by Jeffery W. Williams, was involved in an accident near Columbia, North 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

3 December 1998 at 19:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Columbia, North Carolina, United States

Coordinates

35.9101, -76.2492

Aircraft

Cessna 150

Registration

N18022

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Jeffery W. Williams

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Manteo → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL99LA027

Nobody was injured.

The failure of the #2 exhaust valve that resulted in the total loss of engine power. A factor is the lack of suitable emergency landing terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Approximately one hour into the flight, the flight instructor reported that the engine developed a rough condition and a reduction in power. Since normal flight could not be maintained, the flight instructor selected a field that he believed would be suitable for a forced landing. During the landing roll, the flight instructor attempted to avoid a collision with a drainage ditch and trees. After the airplane went through several gyrations, it rested180 degrees from the initial landing direction. Examination of the engine disclosed that the #2 exhaust valve had failed, and pieces if the valve head were lodged in the cylinder and the exhaust system. The examination of the valve revealed that the valve head separated at the valve stem attach point. The valve stem remained in a normally installed position, and functioned normally when the engine drive train was rotated. A review of the engine maintenance logs disclosed that this engine had a previous exhaust valve failure 931 hours ago. The exhaust valve Part Number was SA-646612.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.