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FAASTeam Notice
Type: General Information
Notice Date: Monday, July 27, 2020
Notice Number: NOTC0242
Airworthiness Concern Sheet-Continental O-470
This notice expired on
Friday, August 27, 2021

Continental Aerospace Technologies, Inc. was made aware of a Cessna 182P that lost power in-flight on December 12, 2019, with the pilot smelling smoke in the cockpit, resulting in the pilot conducting a forced landing on an Interstate with no injuries. The investigation found that the modified Continental O-470 engine’s crankshaft was fractured between the #5 and #6 cylinders. The engine was originally an O-470 that underwent a conversion via STC SE4985NM, to increase the engine displacement to an O-520 equivalent, and STC SE10233SC, to install a supercharger. The crankshaft, which had been ground down for reuse and inspected in October 2018, was an Airmelt model (pre-Vacuum Arc Remelt (VAR)) that was not designed to be used on the bigger bore engines (due to the greater strains encountered on those engines, as addressed by Continental CSB96-8 and MSB96-10B). The FAA is concerned that the Airmelt crankshafts are being improperly used in these converted O-470 engine models (renamed O-470-50 as specified it STC SE4985NM). The Atlanta ACO would like to gather data to better understand the overall impact on the flying public.

The FAA is requesting the following information from owners and operators of the Continental Aerospace Technologies, Inc. engine models O-470-K, -L, -M,
-R, -S & -U that have been converted into an O-470-50 engine model
using STC SE4985NM:

1) Have you installed STC SE4985NM to convert your O-470-K, -L, -M,
-R, -S & -U engine into an O-470-50 by increasing the engine displacement?

2) If the answer to question one was ‘Yes’, have you also installed STC SE10233SC to install a Belt-Driven Vortech V-1S supercharger assembly on the same Continental engine (either before or after STC SE4985NM was installed)? Or any other engine-related STC’s in addition to STC SE4985NM?

3) If you have an engine with either STC SE4985NM, SE10233SC or both installed, please confirm whether your crankshaft was manufactured using the Airmelt process or the Vacuum Arc Remelt (VAR) forging process (please refer to CSB96-8 for guidance on how to identify your type of crankshaft). If you do not know which process was used for your crankshaft and are unable to determine it, please respond to this question with ‘Unknown’.

Select the following link to read the Airworthiness Concern Sheet:

https://www.faasafety.gov/files/notices/2020/Jul/ACO_ACS_Continental.pdf

For more information, or to respond, please contact:
Boyce Jones, ASE-Propulsion
Atlanta ACO
1701 Columbia Ave
Atlanta, GA, 30337
Telephone: (404)474-5535
Email: Boyce.Jones@faa.gov