Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Rio Rancho, New Mexico 87124
Sunday, September 22, 1996 14:45 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the pilot, while on a local area flight, the engine started to lose oil pressure, and subsequently, it lost power. The pilot elected to land on a westerly heading on a 2-lane paved road. On short final, the pilot noticed a white pick up truck approaching in the opposite direction. While maneuvering to avoid the pick up truck, a high rate of descent developed, and the airplane touched down hard. The airplane ground looped, when the left main gear sank on the soft sand while the right tire touched down on the pavement. The airplane came to a stop on the shoulder of the road facing north. Examination of the engine by an FAA airworthiness inspector and the owner of the airplane revealed a fatigue crack in the oil cooler coil, which allowed oil to be pumped overboard.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
fatigue failure of the engine oil cooler coil, which resulted in an oil leak, oil starvation, loss of engine power, and a subsequent forced landing. Factors relating to the accident were: the proximity of a truck on the highway and soft terrain that was encountered during the emergency landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/22/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1445 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | RIO RANCHO |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87124 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | 1456 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ABQ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5352 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 25 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 230 |
| 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 | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 783 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 22 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1728 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N822CF |
| NTSB Number | FTW96LA396 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Coursey |
| Aircraft Model | PROSTAR PT-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PROSTAR PT |
| Aircraft Serial Number | PT-1179 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 21 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43 |
| Airframe Hours | 43 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RICHARD J. COURSEY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 11512 BRUSSELS AVE NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87111 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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 | AEF |
| Departure City | ALBUQUERQUE |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| 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 | -- |