Piper PA-32 N8675N

Summary

On 15 December 2015 at about 15:50 local time, a Piper PA-32 registered N8675N, operated by KDK Associates Inc, was involved in an accident near Brunswick, Georgia, 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

15 December 2015 at 15:50

Classification

Accident

Location

Brunswick, Georgia, United States

Nearest airport

Malcolm McKinnon (SSI)

Coordinates

31.1589, -81.4892

Aircraft

Piper PA-32

Registration

N8675N

Category

Airplane

Year built

1971

Engines

1

Operator

KDK Associates Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jacksonville → Rock Hill

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA16LA071

2 people had minor injuries.

Maintenance personnel's failure to properly torque a No. 4 cylinder hold-down nut during engine overhaul, which resulted in the loosening of the nut and the subsequent failure of the studs and through bolts and separation of the cylinder.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was conducting a personal cross-country flight. The pilot reported that the airplane was in cruise flight at 7,500 ft mean sea level when, without any warning, there was a loud explosion from the engine and an immediate loss of engine power. The explosion caused the oil filler door to open, and oil subsequently spewed over the windshield, and smoke filled the cockpit. The pilot declared an emergency and attempted to glide to a nearby airport; however, he landed the airplane on a rooftop a few hundred yards short of the runway. Examination of the engine revealed that the No. 4 cylinder had separated from the engine case. All of the No.4 cylinder mounting stubs and through bolts were fractured except for the bottom forward stub; the nut for this stub was not located. The piston and corresponding connecting rod for the No. 4 cylinder were found in the bottom of the engine cowling. A review of the engine maintenance logbooks revealed that the engine was overhauled almost 8 years before the accident and had accrued a total time of 1,005.0 hours since overhaul. There were no subsequent maintenance entries related to the No. 4 cylinder. Based on the evidence, it is likely that maintenance personnel applied insufficient torque to the cylinder's bottom forward hold-down nut, which allowed it to loosen over time. The stress load was then transferred to the remaining nuts, which resulted in the failure of the stubs and through bolts and to the separation of the No. 4 cylinder.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.