- Date
- November 19, 1995, 13:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Holly Springs, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N638MFleet ONE
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 17, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19951119037719A
- Case key
- 3672
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
a loss of engine power due to a cracked crankshaft. A factor was the rough/uneven terrain encountered during the forced landing.
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
During flight the engine started to smoke, and then it quit. The pilot immediately turned towards a known field and made an emergency landing. While landing, the propeller stopped in the vertical position and caught on the uneven terrain resulting in the aircraft nosing over. Postcrash examination of the engine revealed a cracked crankshaft.
Factual narrative
On November 19, 1995, at 1330 eastern standard time, a Fleet One, N638M, was substantially damaged during a forced landing attempt near Holly Springs, North Carolina. The commercial pilot was not injured in the accident. The aircraft was being operated under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 by the pilot. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight. The flight departed Raleigh, North Carolina at 1310 and was destined for Pittsboro, North Carolina.
The pilot stated that during straight and level flight the engine started to smoke. At about the same time, the pilot heard a noise, and the aircraft engine stopped producing power. At this time the pilot attempted a forced landing into a field. After landing, the aircraft's propeller caught the ground, and the aircraft nosed over in the field, resulting in substantial damage to the aircraft.
During the post crash engine teardown it was discovered that the crankshaft had been broken.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N638M
- Reported as
- Fleet ONE
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 213
- Airframe hours
- 1,300
- Engine
- Warner SCARAB-30, 110 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Richard B. Parr
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 5, 1995 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- 5W5 · Raleigh, NC
- Destination
- PVT · Pittsboro, 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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 52
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Rear
- Flight hours
- 2,619 total · 102 in this make and model · 2,395 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 34 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 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.