“I Heard A Weird Noise Come From The Engine. I Saw My RPM Gauge Drop.”
On March 25, 2022, about 1613 eastern daylight time, a Diamond DA-40NG, N471BL, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Smithfield, North Carolina. The flight instructor and student pilot were seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. According to the certificated flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot, they conducted a preflight inspection of the airplane with no anomalies noted before departing Johnston Regional Airport (JNX), Smithfield, North Carolina, on an instructional flight.