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FTW91LA054

1991-03-20 · NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport MSY

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE POWER LOSS DUE TO FATIGUE INDUCED CRANKSHAFT FAILURE. FACTORS WERE THE PILOT'S CONTINUED OPERATION WITH KNOWN MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION AND THE LACK OF SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR THE FORCED LANDING.

Factual narrative

DURING A DAY TAKEOFF, THE AIRPLANE EXPERIENCED A COMPLETE LOSS OF ENGINE POWER DUE TO AN INTERNAL MECHANICAL FAILURE. THE ENGINE HAD BEEN RUNNING ROUGH AND HAD A HISTORY OF HIGH VIBRATIONS. FOLLOWING HIS EMERGENCY DECLARATION, THE PILOT LANDED ON AIRPORT PROPERTY ADJACENT TO THE RUNWAY OVER-RUN. DURING THE LANDING ROLL, THE NOSE GEAR SHEARED AND THE AIRPLANE NOSED OVER TO THE INVERTED POSITION. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE MANUFACTURER HAD IDENTIFIED AN INTERNAL PROBLEM THAT WAS DEVELOPING THE VIBRATORY LOADS. THE PILOT WAS FULLY AWARE OF THE MANUFACTURERS ANALYSIS, BUT CHOSE TO CONTINUE TO OPERATE THE AIRPLANE WITHOUT ENGINE MAINTENANCE BEING PERFORMED. ENGINE DISASSEMBLY REVEALED CRANKSHAFT FAILURE WITH MULTIPLE ZONES OF FATIGUE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1991_FTW91LA054.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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