On January 11, 1987, a Cessna 421C Golden Eagle III (registration JA5273) operated by Kitaro Takahashi Sanko Kensetsu was involved in an aviation accident near Wada, Japan in flight. 3 people were killed. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The failure of the right engine was caused by the breakage of a piston head in the second cylinder during flight. This summary draws on records from the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A).
A single-engine aircraft crashed into a mountainside in Nagano Prefecture following an in-flight engine failure.
What happened
During its flight, the aircraft experienced a mechanical failure involving the right engine. Following this malfunction, the pilot was unable to successfully feather the propeller, which prevented the crew from maintaining stable flight. As a result of the loss of power and aerodynamic drag, the plane descended rapidly and struck the slope of a mountain situated to the west of Wada, in the Nagano Prefecture.
The impact resulted in the total destruction of the aircraft. There were three fatalities among the occupants of the plane, with no survivors reported from the crash site.
Findings
Investigations into the accident determined that the right engine failed because a piston head within the second cylinder broke while the aircraft was in flight.
Probable cause
The failure of the right engine was caused by the breakage of a piston head in the second cylinder during flight.