Cessna 120 N77068

Summary

On 19 September 2008 at about 15:00 local time, a Cessna 120 registered N77068, operated by Virgil P. Warren, III, was involved in an accident near Jesup, Georgia, United States. 2 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

19 September 2008 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Jesup, Georgia, United States

Coordinates

31.5539, -81.8825

Aircraft

Cessna 120

Registration

N77068

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Virgil P. Warren, III

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Macon → Jekyll Island

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA08LA196

Nobody was injured.

An oil starvation-induced catastrophic engine failure due to the improper installation of the crankshaft expansion plug during engine overhaul.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that they were about 1 hour and 20 minutes into their planned 2-hour cross country flight, when an opaque film began to accumulate on the airplane’s windshield. Engine oil was observed leaking from the forward right engine cowling area. Within a minute, forward visibility was severely restricted and the pilot had to rely on the instruments for level flight while referring out the side window for visual reference. There were no abnormal indications from the engine instrumentations. The nearest airport was too far away so the pilot elected to land in a clear field within gliding distance. The pilot approached the open field in a slip; the windshield was covered with oil. He lost visual reference as he recovered from the slip to land, and had to estimate the flare for the touchdown. The airplane landed hard and bounced, which separated the right wheel assembly from the gear. The airplane’s right gear dug in on the second contact with the ground, resulting in the airplane coming to an abrupt stop in a nose-low and tail-high position. A wreckage examination revealed the engine oil was leaking from the front section of the engine crankcase, behind the propeller flange. The forward crankshaft expansion plug was observed dislodged from it seating, allowing pressurized oil to escape from the forward end of the crankshaft. The airplane’s engine had been overhauled 39 flight hours prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.