Cessna TR182 N7XZ

Summary

On 30 June 2008 at about 23:58 local time, a Cessna TR182 registered N7XZ, operated by Spirit Flight Inc., was involved in an accident near Bend, Oregon, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured, one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 June 2008 at 23:58

Classification

Accident

Location

Bend, Oregon, United States

Coordinates

44.0944, -121.2000

Aircraft

Cessna TR182

Registration

N7XZ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Spirit Flight Inc.

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Redmond → Prineville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

SEA08LA156

1 person was seriously injured.

The failure of the crankshaft during cruise flight due to fatigue.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during cruise flight, the engine began to run rough as she noticed that the propeller rpm was beyond the red line indication and that oil was coming from the forward cowling area behind the propeller. The oil began coating the windscreen and made forward visibility nearly impossible as the pilot initiated an off-airport landing in an adjacent open field. During the landing roll, the airplane struck a barbed wire fence and came to rest on a two-lane highway, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing and engine firewall. A postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the crankshaft was cracked about 380 to 400 degrees around the circumference of the forward bearing journal, originating from the oil-through hole and progressing in a direction opposite of the rotation of the crankshaft. A metallurgical examination of the fracture region revealed that the origin of the fracture was consistent with a brittle intergranular fracture through the nitride layer and exhibited numerous crack arrest marks. Beyond the fatigue fracture area, the fracture was on a slant plane consistent with overstress separation. The source of the loading that lead to the initial crack formation at the oil through-hole could not be determined. Review of aircraft logbook records revealed that an engine overhaul was completed on May 1, 2006. The most recent annual inspection of the engine and airframe was conducted on May 30, 2008, 252.3 hours since the engine's last major overhaul.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.