Piper PA-28-151 N57SH

Summary

On 12 October 2014 at about 17:50 local time, a Piper PA-28-151 registered N57SH was involved in an accident near Granville, Massachusetts, 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

12 October 2014 at 17:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Granville, Massachusetts, United States

Coordinates

42.0997, -72.9231

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-151

Registration

N57SH

Category

Airplane

Year built

1974

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Glens Falls → Norwood

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15LA015

Nobody was injured.

Deformation of the No. 1 cylinder's intake valve, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power and a subsequent off-airport precautionary landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

About 20 minutes into a visual flight rules cross-country flight, the airplane's engine began running roughly and shortly thereafter began losing power. The pilot initially attempted to divert to an airport about 20 miles away, but as the engine's power output continued to gradually decrease, the pilot instead decided to perform a precautionary landing to a farm field. During the landing, the airplane touched down hard resulting in substantial damage to the airframe. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the engine's No. 1 cylinder compression was intermittently low, that the head of the intake valve of that cylinder was deformed, and that the valve was not seating properly. The deformation of the intake valve may have been the result of high valve seating forces that occurred as the result of improperly adjusted valve spring tension. However, the airplane's maintenance records did not note any maintenance actions to the cylinder or its internal components between the last engine overhaul and the accident. While a maintenance log entry documenting the engine overhaul indicated that new cylinder assemblies were installed at that time, it did not indicate when the spring tension for the valve was last set.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.