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A PA-32 engine's crankshaft broke in flight at 7;000 ft. The pilot declared an emergency with ATC and landed at a nearby airport.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 820316 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200901 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | PA-28R Cherokee Arrow All Series |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Crankcase |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 340 Flight Crew Type 115 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
At cruise the engine began to chatter. The sounds were really different so I pulled the throttle back to see if it would decrease. This action did not help so I turned back towards the nearest airport that I saw. I contacted center and advised them of engine trouble and needed to land immediately. They began to vector me to a small airport south of my position. I was losing altitude and I knew the engine was going to die. It was just a matter of when. I descended down through 2;000 ft AGL and lost contact with center. At 1;500 ft AGL I spotted the field and made preparations for an emergency landing. When I pulled a little more power out the engine quit. I followed my emergency procedures and landed safely with very little runway to spare. The cause of the engine failure was the failure of the crankshaft. The crankshaft broke behind the first two cylinders.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A PA-32 engine's crankshaft broke in flight at 7;000 FT. The pilot declared an emergency with ATC and landed at a nearby airport.
Narrative: At cruise the engine began to chatter. The sounds were really different so I pulled the throttle back to see if it would decrease. This action did not help so I turned back towards the nearest airport that I saw. I contacted Center and advised them of engine trouble and needed to land immediately. They began to vector me to a small airport south of my position. I was losing altitude and I knew the engine was going to die. It was just a matter of when. I descended down through 2;000 FT AGL and lost contact with Center. At 1;500 FT AGL I spotted the field and made preparations for an emergency landing. When I pulled a little more power out the engine quit. I followed my emergency procedures and landed safely with very little runway to spare. The cause of the engine failure was the failure of the crankshaft. The crankshaft broke behind the first two cylinders.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.