Accident Overview
On December 24, 2018, at approximately 1344 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172N, registration N3015E, was substantially damaged during a forced landing in the ocean near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The flight instructor, a student pilot, and two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local instructional flight. The airplane was owned by Air Con LLC and operated by Airplanes 4 Rent under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight departed Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) at about 1330.
According to the flight instructor, while flying along the shoreline at 800 ft above ground level, the engine began to vibrate and then experienced a complete loss of power. The instructor attempted to restart the engine twice, but the engine did not start. He set up for an emergency landing on the beach. At 200 ft agl, he noticed a pier and knew he had to fly over it to land safely on the other side. He tried to restart the engine a third time; the engine restarted but produced no more than 1,200 rpm. Once over the pier, he saw people on the beach and decided to land in the ocean. When the main landing gear touched the water, the airplane immediately flipped over. All four occupants egressed. During the landing, the vertical stabilizer and rudder were damaged.
Engine Examination
Examination of the engine by an NTSB investigator revealed that the No. 2 exhaust rocker arm stud had fractured. Engine continuity was established by rotating the propeller by hand and visually verifying that the pistons and push rods moved on all cylinders. No other anomalies were noted. The rocker arm stud was sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for examination. The fracture surface exhibited characteristics consistent with a fatigue fracture. Review of maintenance records did not reveal if or when the stud was replaced or inspected during the major overhaul.
Aircraft History
The four-seat, single-engine, high-wing airplane was built in 1978 and equipped with a Lycoming O-320-series engine. The most recent annual inspection was completed on December 19, 2018. At that time, the airframe total time was 5,295.0 hours, and the engine had 1,568.7 hours since major overhaul, which was completed on May 10, 2006. According to the airplane owner, he purchased the airplane in February 2018 as a salvage purchase from AIG insurance. The airplane, located in Belize City, Belize, had been damaged by a trolley that rolled into it, damaging the left-wing strut, rudder, and elevator. The owner flew to Belize, repaired the airplane, and flew it back to Fort Lauderdale. He performed an annual inspection in May 2018 and placed it into rental service. The airplane flew 218 hours before the accident.
Pilot Information
The flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration first-class medical certificate was issued on October 26, 2017. He reported a total of 1,580.5 hours of flight experience at the time of the accident.