In aviation, a propeller strike, or prop strike, also called a sudden stoppage, is an accident in which an aircraft's

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

contacts any object and is forcibly stopped or slowed. Propeller strikes can be the result of the propeller contacting the ground due to landing gear collapse, failure to extend the landing gear, or

nose-over Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

. However, the term also includes the damage incurred from contacting any object, such as a hangar door, or even the sudden rpm loss from contacting a yielding substance such as water or heavy tall grass. As well as damaging the propeller itself, a prop strike with the engine running can cause severe damage to the engine and its connected accessories, such as the alternator. An engine tear down and rebuild is usually recommended, otherwise there is a risk of an in-flight engine failure, broken

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecting ...

or loss of propeller.

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Aviation risks {{aviation-stub

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