Event ERA21LA188

Factual narrative

On April 15, 2021, at 1605 eastern daylight time, a Cessna A188B, N731TB, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Dover, North Carolina. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, he fueled the airplane before the flight at a private airport. The purpose of the accident flight was for the pilot to familiarize himself with the airplane and to practice maneuvers in advance of the spraying season. A few minutes after takeoff, at an altitude of about 300 ft, he heard a “loud pop,” and the engine lost all power. He looked at the engine gauges and noticed that there was “no fuel flow.” As the propeller windmilled, he unsuccessfully attempted to restart the engine, then elected to perform a forced landing to a nearby corn field. He stated that the landing was “hard.” Examination of the airplane at the accident site by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed leading edge damage and compression buckling of the top of the left wing outboard of the wing strut, that extended aft of the wing spar. The left side of the empennage was buckled just forward of the vertical stabilizer. The right horizontal stabilizer was bent upward slightly about 12 inches from its root. The upper surface of the right elevator was buckled forward of the trim tab. When the inspector attempted to rotate the propeller by hand, she heard a “clink” sound, and the propeller would not rotate. A follow-up examination and disassembly of the engine revealed that the No. 2 main bearing had spun, smearing metal into the oil ports on the bearing bore and deforming the bore. Numerous fragments of bearing material were found in the oil sump and inside the case, adjacent to the Nos. 1 and 2 cylinders. The remaining main bearings were well lubricated and were normal in appearance. The crankshaft was fractured between main journal No. 2 and rod journal No. 2. There were visible signatures of heat distress near the fracture surfaces. All connecting rods remained attached to their journals on the crankshaft and they rotated freely. A review of the airplane’s maintenance records revealed that the most recent annual inspection was performed 9 days (11 flight hours) before the accident. The previous annual inspection was performed in September 2019, 73 flight hours before the accident. The pilot departed to familiarize himself with the airplane and to practice maneuvers. A few minutes after takeoff, at an altitude of about 300 ft, he heard a “loud pop,” and the engine lost total power. He looked at the engine gauges and noticed that there was “no fuel flow.” As the propeller windmilled, he unsuccessfully attempted to restart the engine, then elected to perform a forced landing to a nearby corn field. He stated that the landing was “hard.” The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, right horizontal stabilizer, and elevator. Examination of the engine revealed that the crankshaft No. 2 main bearing had spun, smearing metal into the oil ports on the bearing bore and deforming the bore. Numerous fragments of bearing material were found in the oil sump and inside the case adjacent to the Nos. 1 and 2 cylinders. Based on the available information, it is likely that the shift of the No. 2 main bearing resulted in a lack of lubrication and subsequent failure of the engine crankshaft. The reason for the bearing shift was not determined. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• — Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Engine (reciprocating)-Recip engine power section-Failure
• — Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot