Investigation number
200401549
Occurrence date
Location
74 km S Mount Magnet, (NDB)
State
Western Australia
Report release date
Report status
Final
Investigation type
Occurrence Investigation
Investigation status
Completed
Aviation occurrence category
Abnormal engine indications
Occurrence class
Incident
Highest injury level
None

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau did not conduct an on-scene investigation of this occurrence. The report presented below was prepared principally from information supplied to the Bureau.

REPORTED INFORMATION

At 0337 Western Standard Time on 11 April 2004, a Beech Aircraft Company Super King Air aircraft, registered VH-FDG, with one pilot, a flight nurse and one passenger on board was conducting an aeromedical flight from Paraburdoo to Albany WA. The pilot reported that, during cruise at flight level 310, the right engine surged, followed by rising Inter-Turbine Temperature. The engine was shut down and the flight diverted to Jandakot, WA.

A subsequent engineering examination by the operator's maintenance engineers revealed that the engine had been subjected to severe over-temperature damage resulting in turbine failure.

The engine was sent to the manufacturer's overhaul facility for further examination. The examination confirmed that the reported damage resulted from over-temperature conditions in the engine. The engine's fuel control unit (FCU) was removed and tested to determine if it conformed to the required fuel scheduling specifications. The testing revealed that the FCU was not metering the fuel to the appropriate schedule and that the engine may have been subject to hot starting1 conditions and a rich acceleration2 schedule. These conditions would have shortened the service life of the engine, leading to the reported failure.


1 Hot starting refers to a higher than normal temperature reached during the engine starting cycle.
2 A rich acceleration schedule indicates that that FCU was providing a higher than normal fuel flow to the engine during starting.

Aircraft Details
Manufacturer
Beech Aircraft Corp
Model
200
Registration
VH-FDG
Serial number
BB-1172
Operation type
Aerial Work
Sector
Turboprop
Departure point
Paraburdoo, WA
Departure time
0218 hours WST
Destination
Albany, WA
Damage
Nil