Aircraft Lost A Portion Of The Right Wing

The NTSB has released a preliminary report in the accident of a Cessna 337 Skymaster that went down at Monmouth County Executive Airport in New Jersey February 15th. The investigation indicates the aircraft lost a portion of its right wing during a low pass of the runway. Five people were killed in the accident.

NTSB Identification: ERA10FA140
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, February 15, 2010 in Farmingdale, NJ
Aircraft: CESSNA T337G, registration: N12NA
Injuries: 5 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On February 15, 2010, about 1548 EST, a Cessna T337G, N12NA, had a section of the outer right wing separate while it over flew runway 32 at the Monmouth County Executive Airport (BLM), Farmingdale, New Jersey. The three adults and two minors on board were killed. The airplane incurred substantial damage. The flight was operated by a private individual. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The flight had originated 5 minutes earlier from the same airport.

Information obtained by the local authorities revealed the flight was intended to be a pleasure flight around the New York area. Three of the passengers were visiting from another country. Relatives of the passengers stayed behind at the pilot’s hanger, which faces and has a clear view of runway 32, to watch the departure.

The flight crew of a helicopter flying in the area heard an unknown person onboard N12NA announcing over the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) that the airplane was to depart from runway 32. A few minutes later one of the crew members of the helicopter and the pilot of another airplane in the area heard an announcement over the CTAF that the N12NA was intending to do a low pass over runway 32.

Several witnesses on the ground observed the airplane fly over runway 32, with the landing gear retracted, at an estimated altitude of 50 feet above the ground and at a much higher rate of speed than normally seen for an airplane that low. The airplane was about one third down the runway when a section of the airplane was seen to separate as the nose of the airplane pitched up. The airplane rolled to the right and veered toward the right, away from the runway. The airplane impacted the ground and continued sliding and rolled as debris departed from the airplane. The airplane came to a stop inverted and up against a snow embankment on a taxi way near where the pilot’s hangar was located.

Recorded radar data from the FAA New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) showed the first contact was at 1544:19, the airplane was at 900 feet msl, on a heading of 332 degrees at a ground speed of 120 knots. At 1544:50 the airplane was at 1,100 ft msl, on a heading of 240 degrees at a ground speed of 137 knots. At 1546:50 the airplane was at 1,400 ft msl, on a heading of 156 degrees at a ground speed of 148 knots. The last contact was at 1547:00, the airplane was at 600 ft msl, on a heading of 062 degrees at a ground speed of 171 knots.

The pilot/owner, age 45, seated in the left front seat, held a private pilot certificate, based on a foreign (Poland) pilot license certificate, with airplane single engine land; with limitations of English proficient and must have accompanied Poland pilot license with all limitation and restrictions for Poland pilot license apply. He was issued a third-class medical certificate on January 26, 2010, with none for limitations. At that time he documented a total time of 870 civilian flight hours.

The pilot, age 46, seated in the right seat, held an airline transport pilot certificate with a multi-engine land rating, a commercial pilot certificate with airplane single engine land, and a flight instructor certificate. He was issued a first–class medical on May 11, 2009, with none for limitations. At that time he documented a total time of 2,801 civilian flight hours.

The 1973, Cessna T337G , was certificated in the Standard category. The airplane was equipped and certified for pressurized flight. The airplane was powered by two, in-line thrust, Teledyne Continental Motors, TSIO-520 series engines rated at 300 horsepower each. Each engine was equipped with a Hartzell three bladed propeller. The airplane had a Horton STOL-Craft Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) installed. The airplane was equipped with wingtip fuel tanks that were an STC addition. The airplane was on an annual inspection maintenance program. The airplane’s last annual inspection was in February of 2009.

A 6 foot section of the outboard right wing was located on runway 32 near runway 14/32 and 03/21 intersection, along with small debris from the right wing. A section of the right aileron, from the separated 6 foot wing section, was located in the snow off to the left of runway 32 and parallel to the separated right wing section. The separated wing section exhibited a round indentation impact mark similar to the rear engine nacelle/fuselage structure of the airplane at the center leading edge area. The trailing edge of the wing section, at the STC’d wingtip tank, exhibited two cuts similar to propeller slashes.

Examination of the main wreckage showed the energy path was on a 360 degrees heading. At a distance of 633 feet from the location of the separated right wing section, a 3 foot deep crater was observed consistent with the initial ground impact. From that point wreckage debris fanned out, up to 50 feet at the widest point, up to the main wreckage, which was up against a snow embankment; with the front of the airplane facing east. The distant from the crater to the main wreckage was 184 ft. The rear engine’s propeller separated at the crankcase flange and was located 80 ft from the main wreckage. The blades exhibited twisting and were bent at mid span. The damaged left wing, left tail boom and sections of the horizontal stabilizer remained with the main wreckage. The forward engine separated from the fire wall, the propeller assembly remained attached. One of the blades on the propeller separated from the hub assembly. The engine was located several feet forward of the main wreckage along with the separated blade.

A wreckage examination was conducted by representatives of the airplane and engine manufacturer with National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) oversight. The inspection of the engines did not reveal any anomalies that would have prevented the engines from producing rated horsepower. Both three-bladed, constant speed propellers, showed damage consistent with power applied, low pitch angle, at the time of impact. All flight control surfaces were accounted for. Flight control continuity was established from the cockpit to the flight control surfaces. Flight control cables that were observed separated were from tension overload or cut during the wreckage recovery process. The flap jack screw was observed in the flaps full up position. The landing gear was observed in the retracted position. The elevator trim was in the full nose up position; however, impact damage made this an unreliable indication of where the elevator trim position was at the time of impact.

Examination of the right wing revealed that the outboard right wing section separated at approximately wing station 177. The horizontal flange of the forward spar upper cap exhibited downward bending at station 177. The bend was approximately 60 degrees downwards. The horizontal flange of the forward spar lower cap was fractured 6 inches outboard of station 177. The lower cap at the fracture surface did not exhibit any bending. The front spar lower cap exhibited downward bending along its length from station 177 inboard with a portion of the vertical flange separating from the horizontal flange of the spar cap.

Sections of the airplane’s right wing spars, left wing spars, and horizontal stabilator structure were retained and sent to NTSB Materials Laboratory for metallurgical analysis.

A hand held Garmin GPS unit was located within the wreckage. The unit has been sent to the NTSB Vehicle Recorders Laboratory for data retrieval.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20100215X82210&key=1