Wsk Pzl Mielec M-18A N2296Y

Summary

On 23 February 2005 at about 22:19 local time, a Wsk Pzl Mielec M-18A registered N2296Y, operated by David Melvin Hill, was involved in an accident near Macedonia, South Carolina, 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

23 February 2005 at 22:19

Classification

Accident

Location

Macedonia, South Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Berkeley County (50J)

Coordinates

33.1878, -80.0372

Aircraft

Wsk Pzl Mielec M-18A

Registration

N2296Y

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

David Melvin Hill

Operating rule

Part 137: Agricultural

Purpose of flight

Aerial Application

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Moncks Corner → Moncks Corner

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL05LA052

Nobody was injured.

The fatigue cracking of the planetary gear housing, which resulted in the loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While approaching Moncks Corner Airport to land, the airplane's engine seized and the pilot was forced to land on tree tops about 400 feet from the runway. Post-accident examination of the engine assembly revealed four fatigue cracks on the planetary carrier housing that propagated outboard and caused the housing to fracture into multiple pieces. The teeth around the sun gear in the area that corresponds to the planetary gears were fractured and exhibited deformation. The teeth of the planetary gears showed deformation. The splined lock was examined and exhibited fretting damage. The width of the fretting/galling damage on the four flat surfaces was wider compared to the thickness of the mating square slot on the cap, consistent with lateral movement between the splined lock and cap. All spine teeth on the splined lock showed deformation. Dimensional inspection of the gears were performed on the engine approximately 98 hours prior to the accident. At that time, a new sun gear was installed in the engine. The mating four planetary gears were not replaced and not required to be replaced. Uneven wear between gear faces caused stresses to be distributed unevenly between the gears, resulting in accelerated wear of the gears. Wear of the planetary gears are required to be evaluated when the engine is overhauled, but there is no record of a recent engine overhaul.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.