FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

MIA91LA202 · Cessna A188B

18 Jul 1991 · Hollandale, MS, United States

Planters Flight Service Cessna A188B · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) while maneuvering

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
MIA91LA202
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

Cessna A188B

Aircraft type
Cessna 188
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
N9541J
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From not recordedTo not recorded
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 137: Agricultural
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
Maneuvering · aerial application
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
Total loss of engine power (mechanical failure)
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

  • Engine assembly, connecting rod bolt › Loose
  • Engine assembly, connecting rod bolt › Overload
  • Engine assembly, connecting rod bolt › Undetermined

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

WHILE MANEUVERING, THE ENG QUIT & THE ACFT WAS DAMAGED DURING THE FORCED LANDING IN A FIELD. EXAM OF THE ENG REVEALED THAT THE NO. 5 CYLINDER CONNECTING ROD CAP SEPARATED. ONE OF THE TWO BOLTS (NO. 1) FAILED DUE TO OVERLOAD. DUE TO DAMAGE TO THE OTHER BOLT (NO. 2), NO DETERMINATION COULD BE MADE AS TO THE REASON FOR THE FAILURE. BOLT NO. 1 WAS EXAMINED & FOUND TO HAVE SIGNATURES ALONG ITS LENGTH. AN UNDAMAGED ROD WAS REMOVED & THE END CAP INSTALLED. THE SIGNATURES OF BOLT NO. 1 WAS COMPARED WITH THE REMOVED ROD & IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE BOLT WAS LOOSE & THE NUT HAD BACKED OFF APPROXIMATELY 1/2 INCH. REVIEW OF THE ENG LOGBOOK REVEALED THAT IT WAS OVERHAULED ON 09/03/80. THE ROD BOLTS & NUTS WERE REPLACED AT THAT TIME. AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT THE ENG HAD ACCUMULATED APPROXIMATELY 654 HRS SINCE OVERHAUL. NO DETERMINATION COULD BE MADE AS TO THE REASON FOR THE LOOSE ROD BOLT ASSY.

Probable cause

OVERLOAD FAILURE OF THE NO. 5 CYLINDER CONNECTING ROD BOLT DUE TO BEING LOOSE FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS. THIS RESULTED IN THE DAMAGE DURING THE FORCED LANDING FOLLOWING TOTAL LOSS OF ENGINE POWER.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record MIA91LA202
Event ID
20001212X17640
Case number
MIA91LA202
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: 28b469938e7a4871eac673c0203694f992e6d37f00124af8412ad67e072b02d3; retrieved 2026-09-23T03:55:46.301Z.