37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Attributes | |
ACN | 1454874 |
Time | |
Date | 201705 |
Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
Place | |
Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
State Reference | US |
Environment | |
Flight Conditions | VMC |
Light | Daylight |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | Cessna 340/340A |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
Flight Phase | Climb |
Route In Use | Direct |
Flight Plan | IFR |
Component | |
Aircraft Component | Engine |
Person 1 | |
Function | Single Pilot |
Qualification | Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 4 Flight Crew Total 1671 Flight Crew Type 376 |
Events | |
Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
I was climbing through 6000 ft on my way up to my final altitude of 16000 ft. Just prior to or at 6000 ft I heard a loud pop come from the left engine followed by a near complete RPM loss on the left engine. I disengaged the autopilot and maintained directional control in a 140 knot sustained climb. At that point I determined the best course of action was to shut down and secure the engine; which I accomplished without issue. After the airplane was stable I called ATC. They asked if I would like to return to [departure airport]; which I agreed to. Once I had the airport in sight they handed me over to the tower. At that point I was 13 NM north of the field. Tower asked which runway I would prefer; I checked the wind with them and it was light and nearly a straight crosswind for either so I chose to do a straight in. They asked if I required any further assistance; which I declined as the airplane was under control. Once the landing was assured I lowered the landing gear and made an uneventful single engine landing. On the taxi back to the FBO an airport service vehicle checked to see if I was leaking any fluids which I was not and continued to the ramp and parked. The only thing that was not by the book was that the flight plan was filed for 2 passengers and there were 3 aboard at the time of the incident.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: C340 pilot reported returning to the departure airport after shutting down the left engine in flight.
Narrative: I was climbing through 6000 ft on my way up to my final altitude of 16000 ft. Just prior to or at 6000 ft I heard a loud pop come from the left engine followed by a near complete RPM loss on the left engine. I disengaged the autopilot and maintained directional control in a 140 knot sustained climb. At that point I determined the best course of action was to shut down and secure the engine; which I accomplished without issue. After the airplane was stable I called ATC. They asked if I would like to return to [departure airport]; which I agreed to. Once I had the airport in sight they handed me over to the Tower. At that point I was 13 NM north of the field. Tower asked which runway I would prefer; I checked the wind with them and it was light and nearly a straight crosswind for either so I chose to do a straight in. They asked if I required any further assistance; which I declined as the airplane was under control. Once the landing was assured I lowered the landing gear and made an uneventful single engine landing. On the taxi back to the FBO an airport service vehicle checked to see if I was leaking any fluids which I was not and continued to the ramp and parked. The only thing that was not by the book was that the flight plan was filed for 2 passengers and there were 3 aboard at the time of the incident.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.