Skip to content

ATL92LA038

1992-01-12 · KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

N185Y has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA A185F), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE MANUFACTURER'S FAILURE TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE TORQUE INFORMATION WHICH RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF TORQUE ON THE CYLINDER HOLD DOWN NUTS AND THE COMPLETE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER.

Factual narrative

SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF, THE PILOT REPORTED A SEVERE VIBRATION IN THE AIRPLANE, FOLLOWED BY A COMPLETE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER. AN EMERGENCY LANDING WAS ATTEMPTED TO RUNWAY 24R AT MCGHEE TYSON AIRPORT, BUT THE AIRPLANE CRASHED A MILE SHORT OF THE RUNWAY. EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE ASSEMBLY REVEALED THAT NUMBER 1 & 2 CYLINDERS HAD SEPARATED FROM THE ENGINE CASE. THE EXAMINATION ALSO DISCLOSED THAT THE CYLINDER HOLD DOWN STUDS WERE DAMAGED AND THE THREADS WERE BATTERED. THERE WAS AN ACCUMULATION OF METALLIC DUST ASSOCIATED WITH FRETTING ADJACENT TO THE CYLINDER FLANGE AND ENGINE CASE. SEVERAL HOLD DOWN NUTS WERE NOT RECOVERED FOR EXAMINATION. THE ENGINE MAINTENANCE LOG SHOWED THAT THE NUMBER 1 CYLINDER WAS REMOVED AND INSTALLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH CURRENT SERVICE INSTRUCTIONS 314 HOURS PRIOR TO THIS ACCIDENT. SUBSEQUENT TO THIS ACCIDENT CONTINENTAL MOTORS ISSUED A SERVICE BULLETIN INCREASING THE HOLD DOWN TORQUE NUT VALUES FROM 710 INCH POUND TO 810 INCH POUNDS, AND CHANGED EXISTING SIX POINT HOLD DOWN NUTS TO TWELVE POINT NUTS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_ATL92LA038.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, maintenance). All research papers