- Date
- July 27, 1998, 08:00 local (12:00 UTC)
- Place
- Zolfo Springs, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N21676Cessna A-188B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980727017979A
- Case key
- 43266
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
The NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
Total loss of engine power due to catastrophic internal engine failure caused by migration of a counterweight retaining.
Analysis
The aerial application flight was pulling up from his second tract run of the day, at an altitude of 100 to 150 feet agl, when the engine made a 'clunk' sound and stopped running. The pilot felt his only option, given the low altitude, was a forced landing to a 'wide row' in the citrus grove. Subsequent examination of the engine revealed a crankshaft counterweight retaining pin had migrated from its installed position causing catastrophic internal failure.
Factual narrative
On July 27, 1998, about 0800 eastern daylight time, a Cessna A-188B, N21676, registered to a private individual, operating as a 14 CFR 137 aerial application flight, crashed near the town of Zolfo Springs, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane received substantial damage and the commercial-rated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated about 25 minutes before the accident.
The pilot stated he had just pulled off his second tract of the day, at about 100 to 150 feet of altitude agl, when he heard a "clunk" and his engine quit. At such an altitude, he stated his only option was a forced landing to a "wide row" in the citrus grove.
Subsequent disassembly inspection of the engine, with FAA overview, revealed the initial failure to be the migration of one of the two counterweight mounting pins on the rearmost crankshaft journal. This resulted in flailing of the counterweight until it broke through the crankcase. The #5 and #6 cylinder barrels had been peened inside the crankcase and had to be sawed off. The crankshaft had broken.
The accident happened at the aircraft's tachometer reading of 2929.2 hours. The engine underwent a major overhaul and was signed off by an authorized inspector on August 27, 1997, at a tachometer reading of 2678.8 hours, or about 250 hours previous to the accident. The aircraft had undergone a 100 hour inspection on February 17, 1998, at a tachometer reading of 2744.5 hours. Copies of engine and aircraft log entries are included under, "Other Pertinent Forms and Reports".
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N21676
- Reported as
- Cessna A-188B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18800951
- Airframe hours
- 2,929
- Engine
- Continental IO-520D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Mary C. Weisman
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 17, 1998 · 185 hours before
- Departed
- FD06 · Wauchula, FL
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
- 65
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 5,000 total · 3,000 in this make and model · 100 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 82 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SRQ, 48 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.