Piper PA-28-140 N8218N

Summary

On 8 May 1998 at about 00:20 local time, a Piper PA-28-140 registered N8218N was involved in an accident near Luvurne, Alabama, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

8 May 1998 at 00:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Luvurne, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

Frank Sikes (04A)

Coordinates

31.7007, -86.2601

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-140

Registration

N8218N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Selma → Headland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

MIA98LA159

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power due to a leaking engine oil seal, resulting in a forced landing, and subsequent impact with the ground. A factor in this accident was improper maintenance and checks after rebuilding and reinstalling the airplane's engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was in cruise flight when the pilot reported to air traffic control (ATC) that he had oil on the wind screen, and was losing oil pressure. Smoke starting filling the cockpit, and he declared an emergency with ATC. The pilot said he saw oil coming from the front of the nose cowling which hit the windshield. He asked ATC for vectors to the nearest airport, 4 miles ahead. The pilot said, because of the oil on the windshield, '...I couldn't see anything, so I slipped the airplane so I could see out the left window...when I did the aircraft started to loss altitude...the oil from the left window started to flow down the left side of the airplane...now I can't see out the front...or left side window.' He attempted to land on a road, but he saw power lines across the road. He turned left base for the road, the stall warning came on, he pulled back on the yoke to keep from hitting the power lines, and missed the turn for the final approach for the road. He then elected to land in a small field. At an altitude of about 60 feet, he turned the engine off, lowered the nose real quick, and headed for the field. The field was too short to land in from his altitude, of around 10 to 20 feet off the ground. He then pulled back on the yoke to kill the airspeed, and let the airplane fall into the field. The airplane hit the ground on all three landing gears at one time, and bounced about 20 to 30 feet. The pilot stated that he rebuilt the airplane's engine and reinstalled it on the airplane in May 1998, about 4 flight hours before the accident. After he had reinstalled the engine, he ran the engine, and found that the oil pressure 'was too high.' He readjusted the oil pressure, and then flew the airplane for 10 minutes, and he said 'everything looked good.' On the day of the accident he flew to Selma, Alabama, and had no problems during the flight. After the accident, an examination of the engine and airframe revealed that the forward nose seal, on the engine had come loose, and was the source of the oil leak. The pilot said that the seal came loose due to the 'high oil pressure.' The pilot told the FAA that after he made the first engine run, and had readjusted the oil pressure, he should have rechecked the seals, and he did not.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.