Friday, July 28, 2017

Titan T-51 Mustang, N5103: Accident occurred July 23, 2016 (and) Incident occurred April 18, 2016 - General William J. Fox Airfield (KWJF), Lancaster, Los Angeles County, California

Aviation Accident Final Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

NTSB Identification: WPR16LA149
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, July 23, 2016 in Lancaster, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 09/06/2017
Aircraft: SWARTZ GENE TITAN T 51 MUSTANG, registration: N5103
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The private pilot reported that, while flying the experimental, amateur-built airplane in the airport traffic pattern, the engine experienced a total loss of power. He quickly attempted an engine restart, but was unsuccessful and decided to land on a nearby road. The airplane landed hard and the right main landing gear collapsed. The airplane subsequently veered to the right and impacted a sign.
        
Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that a loose magnet in the flywheel struck the attachment bracket for the primary and secondary ignition, which disrupted the timing of the ignition system and rendered it inoperative; the engine subsequently experienced a total loss of power. 

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
A total loss of engine power due to the separation of a flywheel magnet, which impacted the attachment bracket for the primary and secondary ignition and disrupted the timing of the ignition system, rendering it inoperative. 

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Van Nuys, California

Aviation Accident Factual Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

Investigation Docket - National Transportation Safety Board: https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms

http://registry.faa.gov/N5103

NTSB Identification: WPR16LA149 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, July 23, 2016 in Lancaster, CA
Aircraft: SWARTZ GENE TITAN T 51 MUSTANG, registration: N5103
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 23, 2016, about 1113 Pacific daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Swartz Gene, Titan T-51 Mustang, N5103, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing after a reported loss of engine power while on downwind at the General William J Fox Airfield (WJF) Lancaster, California. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The local flight departed WJF about 1040.

According to the pilot, the airplane was about 1,000 ft above ground level, initiating the base turn to final, when the engine lost power. He quickly attempted an engine restart but was unsuccessful and decided to land on a nearby road. He selected full flaps over the road and landed hard. Subsequently during the landing roll, the airplane's right main landing gear collapsed, causing the airplane to veer to the right and strike a highway traffic sign, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing.

Postaccident examination of the airplane's engine, under the supervision of a Federal Aviation Administration inspector, revealed that while accessing the engine, a loose portion of a bolt was observed at the bottom of the cowling. It was determined that the loose bolt portion came from the timing pickup bracket that secures the primary and secondary electronic ignition pickups to the engine.

The magnetic flywheel, a part of the ignition system, consisted of four magnets. One magnet became loose and backed out and then struck the secondary timing pickup. Markings were consistent with the impact. The impact force on the secondary timing pickup caused one of the two bolts on the support bracket to separate and break off. Subsequently, the bracket moved about 2 inches, to the right and aft, which effected the primary and secondary ignition system's timing and rendered them inoperative.

The broken bolt was replaced and the attachment bracket was secured back into it's support. The engine started and ran on the primary ignition system with no anomalies noted. However, on the secondary ignition system, the engine could not be started due to the damage sustained to the secondary system.

NTSB Identification: WPR16LA149
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, July 23, 2016 in Lancaster, CA
Aircraft: SWARTZ GENE TITAN T 51 MUSTANG, registration: N5103
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 23, 2016, about 1313 Pacific daylight time, an experimental amateur built Swartz Titan T-51 Mustang, N5103, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing after a reported loss of engine power while on downwind at the General William J Fox Airfield (WJF) Lancaster, California. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight. The local flight departed WJF about 1228

According to the pilot, the airplane was about 1000 feet, above ground level, when the engine failed. He quickly attempted an engine restart but was unsuccessful and decided to land on a nearby road. During the landing roll, the airplane's right gear collapsed, causing the airplane to veer and strike a highway traffic sign, which resulted in substantial damage to the right wing.

The airplane was recovered to a secure storage facility for further examination.

Aircraft on landing rollout, nosed over.

Date:  18-APR-16
Time:  00:22:00Z
Regis#:  N5103
Aircraft Make:  TITAN
Aircraft Model:  T51
Event Type:  Incident
Highest Injury:  None
Damage:  Minor
Flight Phase:  LANDING (LDG)
City:  LANCASTER
State:  California

No comments:

Post a Comment