- Date
- March 6, 1988, 08:55 local (14:55 UTC)
- Place
- Arlington, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N63739Fairchild M-62C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 9, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880306049859A
- Case key
- 22545
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
Failure of the number six cylinder and piston.
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 cruise flight at 1,800 feet MSL the pilot experienced an engine vibration and then observed a piece of metal depart the airplane. The engine quit producing power and a forced landing was performed in a highly populated residential area in a softball field, surrounded by a wire fence. Touchdown occurred on the main landing gear in grass, followed almost immediately by a nose over to the inverted position. The number six cylinder, and pieces of its piston, were found at the scene separtated from the radial engine assembly.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N63739
- Reported as
- Fairchild M-62C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 43-1223AE
- Engine
- Continental W-670-6A, 220 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ada Aircraft Museum Inc.
- Registered owner
- Ada Aircraft Museum, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 27, 1987 · 153 hours before
- Departed
- 04TX · Saginaw, TX
- Destination
- F67 · Grand Prairie, TX
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,297 total · 302 in this make and model · 1,184 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.