Low-Altitude Maneuvering · NTSB CEN23FA352
CESSNA 150 — Caddo Mills, TX
| Date | August 7, 2023 |
| Location | Caddo Mills, TX |
| Aircraft | CESSNA 150 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Maneuvering Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 23 |
| Pilot total time | 217 hrs · Low time |
| Time in type | 3 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Not attained/maintained
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
- Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-(general)-(general)-Unknown/Not determined
What happened
The airplane operator reported that the pilot had recently been checked out in the accident airplane and was operating in the airport traffic pattern for runway 18 when the accident occurred. There were no witnesses to the accident and no flight track information associated with the accident airplane was recovered. The airplane impacted the ground and came to rest about 220 ft north and 330 ft east of the departure end of the runway. Impact marks indicated that the airplane was travelling to the north when it impacted the ground. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postimpact fire.
Examination of the airplane found no preimpact anomalies of the airframe or flight control system. The propeller damage was consistent with low or no power production from the engine. The engine examination was limited due to the extent of the impact and postimpact fire damage; however, the crankshaft gear that drives all of the other gears within the engine accessory case was found separated from the crankshaft, and the four attaching bolts and locating dowel pin were broken. The dowel pin was found to have broken due to shear overstress from rotational motion of the crankshaft gear on the crankshaft; however, the fracture mechanism of the bolts could not be determined due to secondary flattening of the fracture surface. Had this gear become separated during flight it would have resulted in a complete loss of engine power, which is consistent with the limited propeller damage. No other preimpact engine anomalies were found that would have precluded normal operation of the engine.
Impact markings at the accident site suggested that the pilot may have been attempting to return to the runway for a forced landing when the airplane impacted terrain in a nose- and left-wing low attitude, consistent with a loss of airplane control. It is most likely that the crankshaft gear separated which resulted in a loss of power, however, impact and fire damage precluded the determination of the failure mode.