LAX91LA300
1991-07-08 · RENO, Nevada, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport RNO
Current FAA registration · N3011T
- Make / Model
- CESSNA 320C
- Year of manufacture
- 1964 · 27 years old at event
- Engine
- CONT MOTOR TSI0-470-B (260 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 6 seats · 2 engines
- Last airworthiness date
- 19641110
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S A32596
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
THE FATIGUE FAILURE OF THE PROPELLER FEATHERING COUNTER WEIGHT CLAMP ASSEMBLY.
Factual narrative
THE PILOT STATED THAT HE APPLIED FULL POWER AND THE AIRCRAFT WAS ACCELERATING THROUGH 30 KNOTS ON THE TAKEOFF GROUND ROLL WHEN HE HEARD A LOUD EXPLOSION. THE PILOT ABORTED THE TAKEOFF AND TAXIED BACK TO THE RAMP. INSPECTION OF THE AIRCRAFT REVEALED THAT A CLAMP WHICH RETAINS ONE OF THE FEATHERING COUNTER WEIGHTS ON THE LEFT PROPELLER HAD SEPARATED, AND THE COUNTER WEIGHT PENETRATED THROUGH THE NOSE STRUCTURE OF THE AIRCRAFT. THE FAILED CLAMP ASSEMBLY WAS SENT TO THE FACTORY UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE FAA CHICAGO AIRCRAFT CERTIFICATION OFFICE FOR DETAILED ANALYSIS. ACCORDING TO THE REPORT OF THE EXAMINATION, THE FRACTURE WAS FOUND TO BE OF A FATIGUE TYPE, WITH THE ORIGIN ON THE LOWER INSIDE CORNER OF THE STEEL STRAP. CHEMICAL AND HARDNESS TESTS OF THE ASSEMBLY REVEALED THAT THE PART MET SPECIFICATIONS. THE REASON FOR THE FRACTURE INITIATION WAS UNDETERMINED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_LAX91LA300.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.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type. All research papers
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint Experimental investigations on the characteristics of snow accretion using the EMU-320 model train
This paper presents a snow accretion test conducted in a climate wind tunnel to investigate the icing process on a model train.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2017 · Conference paper Pilot Control Design Influences on Pilot Monitoring Effectiveness of Crew Resource Management in Airbus 320 Landings
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of Airbus flight control design on pilot perception of Crew Resource Management (CRM) in the landing phase of flight.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2015 · Journal article (JAAER) Is “Green Dot” Always the Optimum Engines-Out Glide Speed on the Airbus A320 Aircraft?
The dual-engine failure checklist of the Airbus A320 states that the optimum airspeed at which the aircraft can be flown is the “green dot” speed when an engine restart is considered impossible.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint Leveraging Large Self-Supervised Time-Series Models for Transferable Diagnosis in Cross-Aircraft Type Bleed Air System
Bleed Air System (BAS) is critical for maintaining flight safety and operational efficiency, supporting functions such as cabin pressurization, air conditioning, and engine anti-icing.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint Distilling Tiny and Ultra-fast Deep Neural Networks for Autonomous Navigation on Nano-UAVs
Nano-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are ideal candidates for flying Internet-of-Things smart sensors to collect information in narrow spaces.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Conference paper Airline Pilot Risk Profiling by Using Unstable Approach Management Case
Risk and human decision-making cannot be separated from each other. Many of theories and studies have tried to analyze pilots’ decision-making processes, risk factors, and preference behavior in the a…