N471BL

On March 25, 2022, about 1613 eastern daylight time, a Diamond DA-40NG, N471BL, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Johnston Regional Airport (JNX), Smithfield, North Carolina. The flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction were seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.

According to the flight instructor and pilot receiving instruction, they conducted a preflight inspection of the airplane, with no anomalies noted, before departing from runway 21 at JNX. Review of radar data revealed that the airplane climbed to an altitude of about 650 ft while turning left. The flight instructor stated that she “heard a weird noise come from the engine” and saw the rpm gauge drop. Shortly afterward, the flight instructor directed the pilot receiving instruction to turn back to the airport, and the engine lost total power while in the turn. The flight instructor attempted to restart the engine while the airplane descended but was unsuccessful. The airplane subsequently impacted trees about 1 mile from the departure end of the runway, resulting in substantial damage to the fuselage. In addition, both wings and the empennage were fractured from the impact.

A postaccident examination of the engine revealed that engine valvetrain was not timed correctly and that the resulting misalignment resulted in the piston striking the valve. The valve head had subsequently separated and fallen into the cylinder. Examination of the maintenance logbooks revealed that the cylinder head and exhaust camshaft had been replaced the day before the accident flight.