ATL98LA108 · Dean R. Fellows VANS RV-6
Dean R. Fellows VANS RV-6 · Accident: propeller failure/malfunction en route
From Mobile Regional Airport (MOB) to Brooksville–Tampa Bay Regional Airport (BKV)
Event
- NTSB case
- ATL98LA108
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Dean R. Fellows VANS RV-6
- Aircraft type
- Dean R Fellows VANS RV-6
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N245DF
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Mobile Regional Airport (MOB), Mobile, ALTo Brooksville–Tampa Bay Regional Airport (BKV), HERNANDO COUNTY, FL
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- En route · cruise
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Propeller failure/malfunction
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Lubricating system, oil seal › Loss, total
- Pilot in command › Maintenance, installation, improper
- Propeller system/accessories, hub › Loose part/bolt/nut/clamp/etc
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Bainbridge, GA, the place the record names. Not the accident site.
NTSB narrative
According to the pilot, while in cruise flight he noticed a vibration in the airplane. He stated he checked his instruments and elected to continue onto his destination. About five minutes later, he stated that oil began leaking from the front of the engine and blowing back onto his windshield, obscuring his forward vision. The airplane was damaged during the emergency landing. Examination of the wooden propeller assembly disclosed that the bolts were not properly torqued. Additionally, it was found that the crankshaft had not been modified in accordance with the manufacturers service instructions.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to properly modify the crankshaft per the manufacturers service instructions for installation of a fixed pitch propeller and to apply proper torque values to the propellers mounting bolts.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ATL98LA108
- Event ID
- 20001211X10765
- Case number
- ATL98LA108
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 8e6cea5e4fb6e7d296ae557599af140a7cc38139bf4b6e87a9b78aa91d83d593; retrieved 2026-09-21T11:21:54.483Z.