Beechcraft 23 N8719M

Summary

On 13 July 1998 at about 00:26 local time, a Beechcraft 23 registered N8719M was involved in an accident near Oakville, Washington, 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

13 July 1998 at 00:26

Classification

Accident

Location

Oakville, Washington, United States

Coordinates

46.8308, -123.2806

Aircraft

Beechcraft 23

Registration

N8719M

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Aurora → Elma

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA98LA133

Nobody was injured.

Loss of power due to the failure of an exhaust valve, and overloading of the landing gear. Factors include the failure of maintenance personnel to verify proper compliance with an Airworthiness Directive related to the exhaust valve, and soft terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The engine began vibrating violently and losing power without warning while in cruise flight. Unable to maintain altitude, The pilot-in-command executed a forced landing in a soft, open field. During the roll-out, the nose landing gear separated and the left main landing gear collapsed. Post-crash engine examination revealed that the 7/16' exhaust valve on the number 3 cylinder had failed. Reconstructed log books (engine) noted that previous log books had been lost, and that the engine had been overhauled in 1966, about 978 hours before the accident. The Airworthiness Directives (AD) listing in the reconstructed log books for the engine noted that an AD requiring recurrent inspection and replacement of 7/16' valves and/or valve guides (depending upon which camshaft was installed) did not apply due to the serial number of the engine. The associated service bulletin did, however, list the serial number of the engine as requiring compliance. No record of compliance with this AD note prior to the reconstruction of the log books was found, and no record was found as to which camshaft was installed at the time of the reported overhaul.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.