Accident
On May 7, 2008, at 0937 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 182L, registration N42116, crashed into a residential area approximately 1 mile from Bowman Field Airport (LOU) in Louisville, Kentucky. The certificated private pilot sustained serious injuries, and the airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight. The airplane was registered to and operated by the private pilot under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
The pilot stated that after departing from LOU en route to Bloomington, Indiana, the engine began running rough when the airplane was about 10 miles from the airport. He immediately turned back. While on short final approach, the engine stopped, and he performed a forced landing in the backyard of a private residence. The pilot reported that all engine indications were normal prior to the failure, with cylinder head temperature in the normal range, propeller at 2,700 rpm, and oil pressure in the green arc.
Pilot Information
The pilot, age 52, held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane, issued on January 9, 2008. He also held a third-class medical certificate issued on December 7, 2007, with limitations for corrective lenses. At the time of his last medical examination, he reported 200 total flight hours. His logbooks were not available for review.
Aircraft Information
The four-seat, high-wing, fixed-gear airplane was manufactured in 1968. It was powered by a Teledyne Continental Motors O-470R, 230-horsepower engine, equipped with a two-bladed McCauley constant-speed propeller. Maintenance records showed an annual inspection completed on October 20, 2007, at a tachometer reading of 2135.9 hours, with an airframe total time of 4263.4 hours. The tachometer time at the time of the accident was 2175.34 hours.
The airplane came to rest in a residential backyard. The cockpit, fuselage, and empennage were crushed; both wings were buckled and impact damaged. Fuel leakage was noted around the airplane, and approximately 20 gallons of fuel were defueled from the wings. The vertical and horizontal stabilizers and rudder were buckled. Flight control cable continuity was established, and no preimpact mechanical malfunction was found in the airframe or flight control system.
Engine Examination
Visual examination of the engine revealed that the No. 1 and No. 2 connecting rods were broken and had penetrated the top of the aft section of the engine case. The engine was disassembled, revealing that the No. 5 piston had failed. Review of engine logbooks indicated that the engine was overhauled by TCM on May 1, 1992, and installed on May 15, 1992, at an aircraft tachometer time of 814 hours. During a 100-hour inspection on August 24, 2003, at tachometer time 1766.68 hours, cylinders No. 1, 2, and 3 were replaced due to low compression. On September 25, 2005, at 1140.22 hours on the remanufactured engine, the No. 6 cylinder was replaced for low compression.
The No. 5 piston was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for further examination. Analysis revealed that the piston fractured due to fatigue cracking. Dark deposits on the fracture indicated the crack existed prior to the event. The origin area was obliterated by postfracture damage. Review of service difficulty reports showed that over a period of more than 10 years, two other engines experienced piston failures related to the same part number.