N93002

On December 20, 2003, at 1130 eastern standard time, a Cessna 152, N93002, registered to Rinne Associates Inc., and operated by a commercial pilot, collided with a drainage ditch during an emergency landing near Louisburg, North Carolina, The instructional flight was operated under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student pilot were not injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The flight departed Kinston, North Carolina at 1000 on December 20, 2003.

According to the CFI, they were completing a cross-country flight and were six miles from the destination airport flying at 2500 feet, when the engine started to run rough for 20 to 30 seconds then quit. The CFI went through the emergency checklist but was unable to restart the engine. The CFI selected a nearby field for an emergency landing. During the landing roll, the nose wheel collided with a ditch and collapsed.

Examination of the airplane revealed the nose gear collapsed, the propeller bent, and the firewall damaged. The engine teardown revealed wear and fretting on the main journals. The center journal was loose, the bearing assemblies had spun, and the oil passageways were blocked. A review of the aircraft maintenance logbooks reveal that the last engine overhaul was on January 22, 2001, and approximately 1,102.7 hours had been flown since that overhaul.