Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grant City, Missouri 64456
Thursday, August 29, 1996 16:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said that the airplane was in cruise flight at 5,500 feet mean sea level (MSL), and three hours into the flight, when he noticed that the oil pressure indicator read zero. The pilot performed a precautionary landing in a circular hay field which contained numerous rolled bales of hay. 'I planned to land on an upgrade, which I did, halfway up. As I topped the grade, two hay bales appeared. I opened the throttle, with no response, hoping to clear the bales of hay.' The airplane's right wing struck one of the hay bales and nosed over. Examination of the wreckage showed no anomalies. There was no evidence of in-flight oil loss. In a later statement, the pilot said that the airplane's engine was consuming 1.5 to 2 quarts of oil an hour. The engine operator's manual states that the maximum oil consumption for the engine in a one hour time period at normal power (2,700 RPM) is .80 quarts.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
low oil level which resulted in the partial loss of engine power, the pilot's intentional operation of the airplane with a known mechanical deficiency, and the hay bale. Factors relating to this accident were the owner/pilot mechanic's failure to comply with engine operating parameters pertaining to oil consumption and the pilot's decision to perform a precautionary landing in a hay field.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/29/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1620 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | GRANT CITY |
| Event State | MISSOURI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 64456 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1645 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 205 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | STJ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 826 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 48 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 719 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 30 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1500 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8456W |
| NTSB Number | CHI96LA321 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-28-180 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-2692 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 29 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 4161 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CAROLE M. JENKINS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O.BOX 597 |
| Aircraft Owner City | CORNVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86325 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | EDWARD L. ELY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 117 E. FRANKLIN |
| Operator City | WILLIAMS |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 86046 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HYS |
| Departure City | HAYS |
| Departure State | KS |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1320 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OTM |
| Destination City | OTTUMWA |
| Destination State | IA |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |