James L. Leverenz

Rockwell Aero Commander 520

Aircraft was destroyed when it struck power lines and the ground during a single engine go-around. Following a left engine shut down due to severe vibrations, the pilot overflew one airport to return to his home base. En route, he elected not to go to full power due to a 3 minutes limitation he did not want to exceed. The pilot overshot the runway while manually extending the nose gear and elected to attempt a right 270° turn to return to final while at 100-150 feet agl. Nose landing did not extend due to hydraulic pump being on left engine and no pressure. During the turn, the pilot lost control and the aircraft struck the wires. Investigation revealed that one of the blade pitch change links on the left prop had disconnected, allowing one blade to free float. The link pin assembly had backed out as a result of the safety screw backing out due to damaged and stripped threads and an improper length screw being installed. Props had 1/4' safety screws installed instead of 3/8'.