Pilot Debrief

DOUGLAS A4L near Fallon, NV — 2010-07-08

Final reportWPR10LA339
Sign in to save
Date
2010-07-08
Location
Fallon, NV, USA
Airport
NFL
Aircraft
DOUGLAS A4L
Registration
N132AT
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Initial climb

Probable cause

A loss of engine power during takeoff due to the failure of the engine's stator and turbine. Contributing to the accident was inadequate maintenance.

NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he entered a right-hand climbing turn after departure and the engine experienced a loss of thrust. The pilot reversed direction and attempted to land on the runway in the opposite direction, but the airplane was too low and slow to make it back to the runway. He elected to steer the airplane in the direction of an empty field and successfully ejected. The operator reported that their postaccident examination of the engine determined that the protective coating on the turbine blades and stators had degraded. This degradation led to the eventual failure of the stator vanes and then the turbine blades. They could not establish the exact reason for the degradation of the protective coating.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Engine power loss
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted takeoff after engine power loss during initial climb.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 1 docket document
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents1

Related mishaps