- Date
- March 21, 1997, 17:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Nome, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N555CGBeech G18S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 4, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970321004839A
- Case key
- 2980
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
fracture of a propeller blade tip.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
Shortly after reaching cruise altitude, the pilot heard a loud noise and felt a vibration in the left engine. He shut the left engine down, and returned to his departure airport. Upon landing, it was discovered that approximately eight inches of a propeller blade tip attached to the left engine had separated and impacted the nose section of the airplane. The blade tip damaged a former in the nose, and then traveled into the right engine nacelle. A small nick was observed on the remaining blade surface that coincided with the fracture plane.
Factual narrative
On March 21, 1997, about 1715 Alaska standard time, a wheel equipped Beech G-18S airplane, N555CG, sustained substantial damage when approximately eight inches of a propeller tip separated from a propeller blade on the left engine and penetrated the nose of the airplane, coming to rest in the right engine nacelle. The solo airline transport certificated pilot was not injured. The 14 CFR Part 135 cargo flight departed Nome, Alaska, about 1715, and was en route to Gamble, Alaska.
According to the operator's chief pilot, the pilot of the accident airplane reported the propeller tip separation occurred shortly after reaching cruise altitude. The pilot shut down the left engine, returned to Nome and landed without incident. An examination of the remaining portion of the propeller blade disclosed a small nick on the surface of the blade that coincided with the juncture of the fracture plane.
The accident airplane received damage to a former in the nose section, just in front of the radio bay.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N555CG
- Reported as
- Beech G18S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- BA539
- Airframe hours
- 16,867
- Engine
- P&W R985, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Grant Aviation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 12, 1997 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- OME
- Destination
- GAM · Gamble, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 40
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight engineer, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 5,900 total · 850 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.