Eclipse EA500 N875NA

Summary

On 17 July 2008 at about 21:55 local time, a Eclipse EA500 registered N875NA, operated by North American Jet Charters Group, LLC, was involved in an incident near Rockford, Illinois, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 July 2008 at 21:55

Classification

Incident

Location

Rockford, Illinois, United States

Coordinates

42.3495, -89.1503

Aircraft

Eclipse EA500

Registration

N875NA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

North American Jet Charters Group, LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Pinedale → Chicago/Prospec

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI08IA200

Nobody was injured.

The improper installation of the forward edge of the left-hand wing-to-body panel, causing the fairing to separate from the airplane during an in-flight encounter with light turbulence. Contributing to the event was the use of small-head screws and grommets in securing the fairing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The positioning flight was in cruise flight and had just encountered light turbulence when the left-hand wing-to-body fairing separated from the airplane. The panel had been last removed by company maintenance personnel performing maintenance relating to the autopilot system. The forward flat portion of panel had four screw holes in the underlying structure, but the fairing had only three screw holes. Inspection of the operator's other EA500 airplanes showed that some fairings made use of four screw holes while others made use of three screw holes even though four screw holes were available in the underlying structure. An inspection of the airplane revealed that all of the screws were intact except for three screws located at the forward flat edge of the fairing. The respective nuts for these three screws were in place. All but one of the screws and grommets for the curved fairing piece had pulled through the fairing and were attached to the underlying structure. Two and possibly three screw holes at the forward edge of the flat piece of fairing did not have grommets in place and radial cracking of the finished coat was observed at these holes. Also, a delamination ring was observed on the backside of the flat piece of fairing at the screw holes. With the absence of grommets there is a reduced force necessary to pull through the fairing. The outer diameter of the screw head and grommet differ by 0.040 inch. Larger grommets with an integral flange are used in other areas of the airplane, which provide more surface area, distribute contact forces, and improve adhesion to the screw hole. According to the operator, the repetitive removal of screws would result in the countersunk metal grommets loosening from their adhesive bond to the composite fairing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.