- Date
- December 20, 2003, 11:30 local (16:30 UTC)
- Place
- Louisburg, NC
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N93002Cessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 2005
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Greensboro FSDO
- FAA report
- 20031220034369A
- Case key
- 58522
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
Other maintenance personnel's inadequate engine overhaul that resulted in engine case fretting and engine oil starvation.
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
The CFI and student were completing a cross-country flight, and were six miles from the destination airport flying at 2500 feet, when the engine started to run rough for 20 to 30 seconds then quit. The CFI went through the emergency checklist but was unable to restart the engine. The CFI selected a nearby field for an emergency landing. During the landing roll, the nose wheel collided with a ditch and collapsed. Examination of the airplane revealed the nose gear collapsed, the propeller bent, and the firewall damaged. The engine teardown revealed wear and fretting on the main journals, and bearing movement that resulted in engine oil starvation to the crankshaft.. The center journal was loose and appears to have spun, cutting off the oil passage. The last engine overhaul was on January 22, 2001, and approximately 1,102.7 hours had been flown since that overhaul.
Factual narrative
On December 20, 2003, at 1130 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N93002, registered to Rinne Associates Inc., and operated by a commercial pilot, collided with a drainage ditch during an emergency landing near Louisburg, North Carolina, The instructional flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot were not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Kinston, North Carolina at 1000 on December 20, 2003.
According to the CFI, they were completing a cross-country flight and were six miles from the destination airport flying at 2500 feet, when the engine started to run rough for 20 to 30 seconds then quit. The CFI went through the emergency checklist but was unable to restart the engine. The CFI selected a nearby field for an emergency landing. During the landing roll, the nose wheel collided with a ditch and collapsed.
Examination of the airplane revealed the nose gear collapsed, the propeller bent, and the firewall damaged. The engine teardown revealed wear and fretting on the main journals. The center journal was loose, the bearing assemblies had spun, and the oil passageways were blocked. A review of the aircraft maintenance logbooks reveal that the last engine overhaul was on January 22, 2001, and approximately 1,102.7 hours had been flown since that overhaul.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N93002
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 152-85374
- Airframe hours
- 12,516.8
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- David Leahy
- Registered owner
- Rine Associates
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · November 25, 2003 · 27.9 hours before
- Departed
- Kinston, NC
- Destination
- Louisburg, NC
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 25
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Last flight review
- November 8, 2002
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,329 total · 535 in this make and model · 1,272 as pilot in command · 255 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 54
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 30 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC)
- Wind
- 350° at 7 knots, gusting 14
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 39 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.12 inHg
- Observed at
- RDU, 20 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N93002 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.