Mooney M-20-J N57257

Summary

On 9 October 1987 at about 00:25 local time, a Mooney M-20-J registered N57257, operated by Lawrence W. Moulton, was involved in an accident near Kerrville, Texas, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. No probable cause statement is available for this record.

Date

9 October 1987 at 00:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Kerrville, Texas, United States

Coordinates

30.1591, -99.3498

Aircraft

Mooney M-20-J

Registration

N57257

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Lawrence W. Moulton

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tucson → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW88LA002

Nobody was injured.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. No probable cause statement is present in the source data.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

ACFT WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED WHEN IT COLLIDED WITH A ROAD SIGN AND THE GRND DURING AN OFF ARPT EMERGENCY LNDG FOLLOWING A COMPLETE ENG FAILURE DURING DESCENT. PLT STATED THAT ABOUT 20 MINS OUT FROM HIS DEST, THE OIL PRESS DECREASED INTO THE YELLOW ARC, BUT OIL TEMP AND CYL HEAD TEMP REMAINED NORMAL. DURING THE DESCENT, OIL PRESS DECREASED INTO THE RED AND THE ENG STARTED VIBRATING. SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE ENG SEIZED. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT THE #4 PISTON CONNECTING ROD HAD SEPARATED DUE TO OIL STARVATION, RESULTING IN SEVERE INTERNAL DAMAGE TO THE ENG. TWO QTS OF HEAVY, BLACK OIL WERE DRAINED FRM THE ENG. THE CAUSE OF THE OIL STARVATION WAS NOT DETERMINED DURING THE INVESTIGATION. THE PLTS STATED THAT THEY HAD DEPARTED 4.5 HRS PRIOR TO THE ACDT WITH SLIGHTLY OVER 5 QTS OF OIL IN THE ENG. ENG HAD BEEN OPERATED A TOTAL OF 320 HRS.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.