Aircraft Lost A Portion Of The Right Wing
The NTSB has released a preliminary report in the accident of
a Cessna 337 Skymaster that went down at Monmouth County Executive
Airport in New Jersey February 15th. The investigation indicates
the aircraft lost a portion of its right wing during a low pass of
the runway. Five people were killed in the accident.
NTSB Identification: ERA10FA140
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, February 15, 2010 in Farmingdale,
NJ
Aircraft: CESSNA T337G, registration: N12NA
Injuries: 5 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may
contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when
the final report has been completed.
On February 15, 2010, about 1548 EST, a Cessna T337G, N12NA, had
a section of the outer right wing separate while it over flew
runway 32 at the Monmouth County Executive Airport (BLM),
Farmingdale, New Jersey. The three adults and two minors on board
were killed. The airplane incurred substantial damage. The flight
was operated by a private individual. Visual meteorological
conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local
flight. The flight had originated 5 minutes earlier from the same
airport.
Information obtained by the local authorities revealed the
flight was intended to be a pleasure flight around the New York
area. Three of the passengers were visiting from another country.
Relatives of the passengers stayed behind at the pilot’s
hanger, which faces and has a clear view of runway 32, to watch the
departure.
The flight crew of a helicopter flying in the area heard an
unknown person onboard N12NA announcing over the common traffic
advisory frequency (CTAF) that the airplane was to depart from
runway 32. A few minutes later one of the crew members of the
helicopter and the pilot of another airplane in the area heard an
announcement over the CTAF that the N12NA was intending to do a low
pass over runway 32.
Several witnesses on the ground observed the airplane fly over
runway 32, with the landing gear retracted, at an estimated
altitude of 50 feet above the ground and at a much higher rate of
speed than normally seen for an airplane that low. The airplane was
about one third down the runway when a section of the airplane was
seen to separate as the nose of the airplane pitched up. The
airplane rolled to the right and veered toward the right, away from
the runway. The airplane impacted the ground and continued sliding
and rolled as debris departed from the airplane. The airplane came
to a stop inverted and up against a snow embankment on a taxi way
near where the pilot’s hangar was located.
Recorded radar data from the FAA New York Terminal Radar
Approach Control (TRACON) showed the first contact was at 1544:19,
the airplane was at 900 feet msl, on a heading of 332 degrees at a
ground speed of 120 knots. At 1544:50 the airplane was at 1,100 ft
msl, on a heading of 240 degrees at a ground speed of 137 knots. At
1546:50 the airplane was at 1,400 ft msl, on a heading of 156
degrees at a ground speed of 148 knots. The last contact was at
1547:00, the airplane was at 600 ft msl, on a heading of 062
degrees at a ground speed of 171 knots.
The pilot/owner, age 45, seated in the left front seat, held a
private pilot certificate, based on a foreign (Poland) pilot
license certificate, with airplane single engine land; with
limitations of English proficient and must have accompanied Poland
pilot license with all limitation and restrictions for Poland pilot
license apply. He was issued a third-class medical certificate on
January 26, 2010, with none for limitations. At that time he
documented a total time of 870 civilian flight hours.
The pilot, age 46, seated in the right seat, held an airline
transport pilot certificate with a multi-engine land rating, a
commercial pilot certificate with airplane single engine land, and
a flight instructor certificate. He was issued a first–class
medical on May 11, 2009, with none for limitations. At that time he
documented a total time of 2,801 civilian flight hours.
The 1973, Cessna T337G , was certificated in the Standard
category. The airplane was equipped and certified for pressurized
flight. The airplane was powered by two, in-line thrust, Teledyne
Continental Motors, TSIO-520 series engines rated at 300 horsepower
each. Each engine was equipped with a Hartzell three bladed
propeller. The airplane had a Horton STOL-Craft Supplemental Type
Certificate (STC) installed. The airplane was equipped with wingtip
fuel tanks that were an STC addition. The airplane was on an annual
inspection maintenance program. The airplane’s last annual
inspection was in February of 2009.
A 6 foot section of the outboard right wing was located on
runway 32 near runway 14/32 and 03/21 intersection, along with
small debris from the right wing. A section of the right aileron,
from the separated 6 foot wing section, was located in the snow off
to the left of runway 32 and parallel to the separated right wing
section. The separated wing section exhibited a round indentation
impact mark similar to the rear engine nacelle/fuselage structure
of the airplane at the center leading edge area. The trailing edge
of the wing section, at the STC’d wingtip tank, exhibited two
cuts similar to propeller slashes.
Examination of the main wreckage showed the energy path was on a
360 degrees heading. At a distance of 633 feet from the location of
the separated right wing section, a 3 foot deep crater was observed
consistent with the initial ground impact. From that point wreckage
debris fanned out, up to 50 feet at the widest point, up to the
main wreckage, which was up against a snow embankment; with the
front of the airplane facing east. The distant from the crater to
the main wreckage was 184 ft. The rear engine’s propeller
separated at the crankcase flange and was located 80 ft from the
main wreckage. The blades exhibited twisting and were bent at mid
span. The damaged left wing, left tail boom and sections of the
horizontal stabilizer remained with the main wreckage. The forward
engine separated from the fire wall, the propeller assembly
remained attached. One of the blades on the propeller separated
from the hub assembly. The engine was located several feet forward
of the main wreckage along with the separated blade.
A wreckage examination was conducted by representatives of the
airplane and engine manufacturer with National Transportation
Safety Board (NTSB) oversight. The inspection of the engines did
not reveal any anomalies that would have prevented the engines from
producing rated horsepower. Both three-bladed, constant speed
propellers, showed damage consistent with power applied, low pitch
angle, at the time of impact. All flight control surfaces were
accounted for. Flight control continuity was established from the
cockpit to the flight control surfaces. Flight control cables that
were observed separated were from tension overload or cut during
the wreckage recovery process. The flap jack screw was observed in
the flaps full up position. The landing gear was observed in the
retracted position. The elevator trim was in the full nose up
position; however, impact damage made this an unreliable indication
of where the elevator trim position was at the time of impact.
Examination of the right wing revealed that the outboard right
wing section separated at approximately wing station 177. The
horizontal flange of the forward spar upper cap exhibited downward
bending at station 177. The bend was approximately 60 degrees
downwards. The horizontal flange of the forward spar lower cap was
fractured 6 inches outboard of station 177. The lower cap at the
fracture surface did not exhibit any bending. The front spar lower
cap exhibited downward bending along its length from station 177
inboard with a portion of the vertical flange separating from the
horizontal flange of the spar cap.
Sections of the airplane’s right wing spars, left wing
spars, and horizontal stabilator structure were retained and sent
to NTSB Materials Laboratory for metallurgical analysis.
A hand held Garmin GPS unit was located within the wreckage. The
unit has been sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorders Laboratory for
data retrieval.