A student pilot reported hearing a loud bang during climb followed by the cessna 150 airframe shakin...

Narrative:

I was a student pilot on a dual instruction flight. During climb we heard a loud bang; the airframe shook violently and the engine coughed but continued running. My instructor took control of the aircraft. We were unsure what had happened and briefly discussed the possibility of a bird strike or other collision. We turned towards the airport and still had full power. Shortly after turning; oil spray was seen on the windscreen; confirming an engine problem. Oil temperature and pressure gauges were in the green. My instructor then returned control of the aircraft to me. Still having full power; I gained altitude as we continued to our point of origin. As we approached the airport and drew back power; the power decreased dramatically and was not as responsive as it should have been; as we tried to put some back. We safely made the runway landing with a tailwind and taxied to parking. I was at the controls during landing and taxi to parking. Removal of the cowling revealed a massive crack in the crankcase and a smaller crack. At no point did the engine completely lose power. No emergency was declared. Local CTAF radio calls were made to notify other traffic of our situation. The entire event spanned approximately 5-7 minutes. The aircraft had just returned to the line from maintenance to replace a cylinder.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Student Pilot reported hearing a loud bang during climb followed by the Cessna 150 airframe shaking violently; the engine coughed but kept running. Student and Flight Instructor returned to field where subsequent removal of the cowling revealed a massive crack in the crankcase.

Narrative: I was a student pilot on a dual instruction flight. During climb we heard a loud bang; the airframe shook violently and the engine coughed but continued running. My instructor took control of the aircraft. We were unsure what had happened and briefly discussed the possibility of a bird strike or other collision. We turned towards the airport and still had full power. Shortly after turning; oil spray was seen on the windscreen; confirming an engine problem. Oil temperature and pressure gauges were in the green. My instructor then returned control of the aircraft to me. Still having full power; I gained altitude as we continued to our point of origin. As we approached the airport and drew back power; the power decreased dramatically and was not as responsive as it should have been; as we tried to put some back. We safely made the runway landing with a tailwind and taxied to parking. I was at the controls during landing and taxi to parking. Removal of the cowling revealed a massive crack in the crankcase and a smaller crack. At no point did the engine completely lose power. No emergency was declared. Local CTAF radio calls were made to notify other traffic of our situation. The entire event spanned approximately 5-7 minutes. The aircraft had just returned to the line from maintenance to replace a cylinder.

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.

Attributes
ACN	834443
Time
Date	200905
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Cessna 150
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Crankcase
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Trainee
Qualification	Flight Crew Student
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 3 Flight Crew Total 80
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Maintenance

A student pilot reported hearing a loud bang during climb followed by the cessna 150 airframe shaking violently; the engine coughed but kept running. Student and flight instructor returned to field where subsequent removal of the cowling revealed a massive crack in the crankcase.