Durling James RV-6A N241BD

Summary

On 3 September 2011 at about 12:47 local time, a Durling James RV-6A registered N241BD was involved in an accident near Hollywood, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 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

3 September 2011 at 12:47

Classification

Accident

Location

Hollywood, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

North Perry (HWO)

Coordinates

26.0069, -80.2439

Aircraft

Durling James RV-6A

Registration

N241BD

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hollywood → Palatka

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11LA483

2 people had minor injuries.

Particulate ingestion from the engine, which resulted in the malfunction of the propeller governor during the airplane’s initial climb.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the airplane’s initial climb after takeoff, when it was an estimated 30 to 50 feet off the ground, the propeller rpm suddenly decreased. The pilot aborted the takeoff, and was able to land the airplane about 500 feet before the end of the 3,350-foot runway. However, the airplane then overran the runway end and impacted a perimeter fence. Initial examination of the engine did not reveal any anomalies, but a subsequent propeller governor disassembly at a propeller shop revealed difficulty in moving an internal part, as well as internal scoring internal scoring. Further examination of the cleaned parts confirmed the internal scoring as well as internal chipping, the latter which was likely produced by trapped particles. Chipping was found on the land (surface) of the pilot valve, and rounding on the edge of the port it normally interacted with, which would produce erratic operation of the governor, and therefore affect propeller speed. Because the parts had previously been cleaned, there were no particulates available for composition analysis. However, because there was also no evidence of missing material from the governor itself, it was likely that the damage to the governor was the result of particulate ingestion via oil flow from the engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.