Piper PA 18-150 N162SC

Summary

On 17 April 2015 at about 23:15 local time, a Piper PA 18-150 registered N162SC was involved in an accident near La Quinta, California, United States. One person was on board and 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

17 April 2015 at 23:15

Classification

Accident

Location

La Quinta, California, United States

Coordinates

33.6819, -116.2669

Aircraft

Piper PA 18-150

Registration

N162SC

Category

Airplane

Year built

1961

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Banner Tow

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bermuda Dunes → Bermuda Dunes

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR15LA149

1 person had minor injuries.

Maintenance personnel’s failure to properly repair a propeller deformation, which resulted in a fatigue crack, separation of a propeller blade tip, and forced landing onto uneven terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot reported that, while orbiting during a banner tow flight, the airplane began to shake violently and lose altitude. The pilot reduced power to idle, which alleviated the violent shaking, and released the banner over an empty fairway at a golf course. While advancing the throttle after dropping the banner, he noted that the severe vibration returned, and the airplane was unable to maintain altitude. The pilot selected the next empty fairway as a forced landing site, but the landing area had significant elevation changes. The airplane touched down on a plateau and could not be stopped before reaching a large drop-off. The airplane bounced before contacting the ground sideways and came to rest inverted. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that a piece of one propeller blade tip had separated; this piece was not located. The fracture likely originated from a fatigue crack in a deformed area on the propeller blade. Marks consistent with use of an orbital grinder overlapped hand finishing lines in the deformed material, suggesting multiple machining operations were employed during overhaul/repair of the propeller, none of which fully removed the deformed material. The airplane had flown about 66 hours since the last recorded inspection; no inspection or overhaul entry specified any work on a propeller blade deformation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.