- Date
- February 6, 1992, 21:01 local (Feb 7, 1992, 02:01 UTC)
- Place
- Richmond Hts., OH
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N725ACAero Commander 500S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 21, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920206001969A
- Case key
- 37051
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 pilot's improper emergency procedures and failure to maintain control of the airplane, which resulted in an inadvertent spin at too low an altitude to allow recovery. Factors in this accident were; a power loss in the left engine as result of the exhaust valve failures in cylinders #3 and #5.
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 pilot had the waste gates on the turbocharges adjusted and wanted to test fly the airplane after the work was completed. The airplane departed and had reached an altitude of about 1000 feet when witnesses heard an engine sputter. The airplane was seen making a left turn and enter a nose low, left spin before impacting the terrain. A tear down of the left engine revealed that the exhaust valves in cylinders #3 and #5 were burnt through at the valve head. The #5 exhaust valve had a deep preexisting deep mark on the valve stem. The failures of both valves were sufficent enough to cause a power failure in the left engine.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N725AC
- Reported as
- Aero Commander 500S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3144
- Airframe hours
- 3,276
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-E1B5, 290 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Michael Stanton-Hicks
- Registered owner
- Shrike Corporation
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 26, 1991 · 500 hours before
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,111 total · 71 in this make and model · 930 as pilot in command · 18 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 260° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.