Moore Joseph O VARIEZE N80681

Summary

On 28 May 2016 at about 22:15 local time, a Moore Joseph O VARIEZE registered N80681 was involved in an accident near Santa Paula, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 May 2016 at 22:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Paula, California, United States

Nearest airport

Santa Paula (SZP)

Coordinates

34.3228, -119.1492

Aircraft

Moore Joseph O VARIEZE

Registration

N80681

Category

Airplane

Year built

1980

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Paula → Santa Paula

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR16FA118

2 people died.

A total loss of engine power due to fatigue failure of the camshaft drive gear teeth.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airline transport pilot and a passenger departed on a local area flight; shortly after takeoff, the engine experienced a total loss of power. To the northwest of the accident site was an open field and a road; both were available to use for landing but presented challenges. The field had been recently plowed and there was auto traffic on the road. It was likely that the pilot was attempting to land on the road but struck power lines during the descent. The airplane came to rest in a lemon orchard and was subsequently consumed by a postcrash fire. Visual examination of the engine revealed thermal damage. The engine crankcase was disassembled; the main bearings on the left crankcase half were dark in color and exhibited pitting. The camshaft drive gear cluster displayed nine broken teeth, most of which were found in the oil sump. Metallurgical examination revealed that three of the camshaft drive gear teeth failed in fatigue, which subsequently resulted in the overstress failure of the other six teeth. The fatigue initiated at sharp corners formed during hand-grinding of the forward faces of the teeth while dressing the edges and removing burrs from the teeth during manufacture.   Airplane logbook entries revealed that the engine was assembled by a third party and installed new on the airframe about 13 years before the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.