ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 224808
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| Date: | Monday 6 May 2019 |
| Time: | 12:47 |
| Type: |  Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee B |
| Owner/operator: | Lightning Aviation |
| Registration: | N5542U |
| MSN: | 28-26264 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1969 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 6985 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-320-D3G |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Foley Municipal Airport (5R4), Foley, AL -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Foley, AL (5R4) |
| Foley, AL (5R4) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The flight instructor and student pilot were conducting simulated engine-out emergency procedures in the airport traffic pattern. About 300-400 ft above ground level after takeoff, witnesses reported that the flight instructor announced on the radio that the engine had quit. Witnesses reported that the airplane then entered a nose-high, steep left turn before pitching down and impacting the ground.
Postaccident examination of the airframe and flight controls revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Examination of the engine revealed that the No. 4 cylinder exhaust valve was stuck in the valve guide due to excessive combustion deposits. It is likely that the stuck exhaust valve resulted in a partial loss of engine power.
A flight instructor who flew the accident airplane the day before the accident flight reported experiencing engine roughness when performing simulated engine-out procedures. Following that flight, a mechanic cleaned the sparkplugs, performed an engine run-up, and returned the airplane to service; however, maintenance records did not show that the engine valves were inspected for sticking at that time. Manufacturer service instructions suggested inspecting for valve sticking at regular intervals or sooner if sticking was suspected. If a valve inspection had been completed in accordance with engine manufacturer guidance the day before the accident following the report of engine roughness, it is likely that the heavy carbon deposits on the exhaust valve would have been detected.
Given that the flight instructor reportedly had students trim the airplane nose-up when landing, it is possible that the airplane was trimmed nose-high at the time of takeoff and the subsequent loss of engine power. Such a trim setting would have led to excessive pitch up, resulting in a rapid loss of airspeed, an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack, and an aerodynamic stall at low altitude.
Probable Cause: A partial loss of engine power due to a stuck exhaust valve and the flight instructor's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack following the loss of power, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall at low altitude.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=5542U
Location
Media:
A flight lesson gone wrong - @reneebeninate has the latest information on a plane crash in Foley that critically injured a man and woman. Full story: https://t.co/cgnyL1WaNg pic.twitter.com/ZjlDOY5oYV
— WEAR ABC 3 (@weartv) 7 mai 2019
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 06-May-2019 19:41 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 07-May-2019 01:26 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-May-2019 14:37 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
| 07-May-2019 16:56 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code] |
| 07-May-2019 19:55 | RobertMB | Updated [Source, Embed code] |
| 07-May-2019 20:12 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 09-May-2019 19:30 | Iceman 29 | Updated [Embed code] |
| 10-May-2019 20:22 | Captain Adam | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-May-2019 15:10 | Captain Adam | Updated [Total fatalities, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-May-2020 09:27 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative, Accident report, ] |
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