History of Flight
On October 17, 2011, at approximately 1400 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28R-200 (Arrow II) airplane, registration N300KR, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Watertown Municipal Airport (RYV), Watertown, Wisconsin. The flight instructor and the pilot receiving instruction were not injured. The airplane was owned and operated by Wisconsin Aviation – Four Lakes Inc. under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and the flight was not on a flight plan. The local instructional flight had departed RYV about 1300.
The crew reported being about 5 miles northwest of RYV at 4,000 feet mean sea level when they heard a "loud bang" and oil immediately covered the front windshield. The instructor took control and turned toward the airport. The engine continued producing partial power but lost power completely while in the airport traffic pattern. The instructor established a glide for runway 29 but, due to a complete lack of forward visibility and another airplane in the run-up area, elected to execute a forced landing to a roadway bordering the east side of the airport. The airplane struck a car and a pole before stopping. The car driver was not injured. The airplane's right wing sustained substantial damage.
Personnel Information
The flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate with single- and multi-engine land and instrument airplane ratings, along with a current flight instructor certificate for the same categories. He had a first-class medical certificate issued January 18, 2011, with a corrective lenses restriction. He reported 4,900 total flight hours, with 400 hours in Piper PA-28R-200 airplanes.
The pilot receiving instruction held a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land airplane rating. He had a third-class medical certificate issued August 25, 2010, with restrictions for corrective lenses and night flight. He reported 190 total flight hours, with 5 hours in the accident airplane type, and was receiving instruction for a complex airplane endorsement.
Aircraft Information
The accident airplane was a Piper PA-28R-200, serial number 28R-7635210, a low-wing, four-place, single-engine retractable tricycle gear aircraft. It was powered by a 200-horsepower Lycoming IO-360-C1C engine (serial RL-14894-51A), a four-cylinder, normally aspirated, reciprocating engine.
Maintenance records showed an annual inspection completed on May 24, 2011, at 7,021.2 total airframe hours. At that time, the engine had 2,851.9 hours total, with 698.1 hours since overhaul (May 2005). The airplane had accumulated 81.2 hours since the annual. An oil change was performed on September 1, 2011, at 7,076.2 airframe hours with no anomalies; no subsequent entries were in the engine logbook.
Meteorological Information
Weather recorded at RYV at 1415 included wind from 260 degrees at 13 knots, gusting to 19 knots; visibility 10 miles; clear sky; temperature 15°C; dew point -6°C; altimeter 29.76 inHg.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane came to rest on a roadway bordering the airport. The right wing exhibited leading-edge impact damage near mid-span. One propeller blade was bent aft about 20 degrees over its outboard two-thirds, with nicks, spanwise scratches, and transfer marks; the other two blades appeared undamaged. The lower right area of the engine cowling showed fiberglass delamination and paint cracking consistent with impact.
The engine crankcase was fractured near the number 2 cylinder, with interior gouges indicating mechanical damage. Connecting rods for cylinders 1 and 3 remained attached to the crankshaft; those for cylinders 2 and 4 had separated. The crankshaft and camshaft were intact, though the camshaft had gouges from secondary damage. The crankshaft was discolored near connecting rods 1, 3, and 4, consistent with oil starvation, but not at the number 2 journal. The oil sump and filter contained metallic fragments.
The number 2 connecting rod had failed about mid-length, with the upper portion still attached to the piston; the lower portion was not recovered, though a part of the rod cap and an entrapped bolt fragment were found. The remaining rod bolt was not recovered. The rod cap was deformed. The number 2 piston remained in the cylinder bore, with impact dents and gouges on its lower portion but otherwise undamaged. The connecting rod and rod cap did not appear discolored. The number 4 connecting rod remained attached to its piston and intact; the piston appeared intact. The lower end of the number 4 rod and its separated cap were discolored and deformed, consistent with oil starvation and secondary mechanical damage.
Tests and Research
Metallurgical examination of the number 2 connecting rod revealed features consistent with overstress bending separation. The recovered rod cap section showed features indicative of bending overstress with no sign of progressive cracking. The entrapped rod cap bolt displayed features consistent with tension overstress fracture.