Cessna A185F N999SW
3 January 2000 · Houston, Texas, United States · No injuries
Summary
On 3 January 2000 at about 18:25 local time, a Cessna A185F registered N999SW was involved in an accident near Houston, Texas, United States. 4 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.
The record
- Date
- at 18:25
- Classification
- Accident
- Location
- Houston, Texas, United States
- Nearest airport
- Clover Field (T02)
- Coordinates
- 29.6110, -95.1201
- Aircraft
- Cessna A185F
- Registration
- N999SW
- Category
- Airplane
- Engines
- 1
- Operator
- Not recorded
- Operating rule
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Purpose of flight
- Personal
- Phase of flight
- Not recorded
- Route
- Unknown → Longview
- Aircraft damage
- Substantial
- Weather
- VMC
- Light
- Day
- NTSB number
- FTW00LA058
People
Nobody was injured.
| On board | Died | Serious | Minor | Uninjured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Probable cause
the loss of engine power during climb as a result of fatigue cracking of the #4 cylinder head and its subsequent separation from its barrel.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.
Read the full NTSB narrative
The airplane was climbing through 3,500 feet after departure when the pilot heard a sequence of loud bangs. The pilot stated that the airplane started to vibrate, therefore, he elected to pull the throttle to idle and returned to the departure airport. The pilot stated that he could not make it to the active runway and elected to land on a grass strip located on the airport. The pilot attempted to slow the airplane before impacting a ditch. The airplane nosed over at 40 knots, coming to rest inverted. Examination of the engine revealed that the #4 cylinder head separated from its cylinder barrel as a result of fatigue cracking originating in the cylinder head threads. The engine was overhauled 111.5 hours prior to the accident, at which time, 6 channel chromed overhauled cylinders were installed. It could not be determined how many hours the cylinders had accumulated or how many times they had been overhauled. There is no requirement to track cylinder hours or overhaul occurrences.
Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.
Other Cessna A185F accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Dec 2000 | Cessna A185F | Lynwood, Washington, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 26 May 2000 | Cessna A185F | Mixcolaja, Guatemala | Mennonite Air Mission | Minor injuries | - |
| 12 Jun 2000 | Cessna A185F | New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | - | No injuries | - |
| 28 Sep 2000 | Cessna A185F | Smithers, Canada | LUY, Dennis J. | Fatal | 3 |
| 28 Jul 2000 | Cessna A185F | Tillamook, Oregon, United States | Lachenmeier, Timothy T. | No injuries | - |
| 25 Jun 2000 | Cessna A185F | Marana, Arizona, United States | James J. Peot | No injuries | - |
Other accidents in this area
| Date | Aircraft | Location | Operator | Outcome | Died |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Jul 2000 | Schweizer G-164B | Moscow, Texas, United States | Paynes Flying Service, Inc. | Serious injuries | - |
| 30 May 2000 | Air Tractor AT-301 | Garwood, Texas, United States | Michael Thompson | Minor injuries | - |
| 19 Apr 2000 | Mooney M20F | Tomball, Texas, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 12 Apr 2000 | Piper PA-32R-301 | Rocksprings, Texas, United States | Ivan B. Greenhut | No injuries | - |
| 16 Sep 2000 | Cessna 185F | Burnet, Texas, United States | - | Minor injuries | - |
| 26 Feb 2000 | Piper PA-18 | New Ulm, Texas, United States | Leonard F. Firth | Minor injuries | - |