Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Marietta, Georgia 30007
Monday, December 1, 1997 11:05 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While in cruise flight, the engine began making banging and hissing sounds, emitting white smoke, and steadily losing power. The pilot requested vectors from ATC to the nearest airport, Dobbins ARB, but couldn't stretch his glide, and made a forced landing onto a construction site. The airplane came to a stop in trees and was destroyed. An NTSB-supervised teardown inspection revealed failure of the oil cooler core resulting in oil starvation.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A catastrophic failure of the oil cooler core which led to overboard porting of lubricating oil and subsequent engine failure.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/1/1997
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1105
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City MARIETTA
Event State GEORGIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 30007
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 12
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 Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1107 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 60
Weather Observation Facility ID MGE
Elevation of weather observation facility 1068
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1800
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1800
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
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 --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1343
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 1 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1130
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:43PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N14493
NTSB Number MIA98LA037
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model FR-172J
Aircraft Series Identifier FR-172J
Aircraft Serial Number 0444
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Nov 29 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 1
Airframe Hours 2904
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WILLIAM B. ALLISON
Aircraft Owner Street Address 3132 QUEENS WALK
Aircraft Owner City ATLANTA
Aircraft Owner State GA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 30345
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name THE FLIGHT SCHOOL OF GWINNETT
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 800 AIRPORT RD, GWINNETT CTY.
Operator City LAWRENCEVILLE
Operator State GA
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 30245
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) Ferry
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code LZU
Departure City LAWRENCEVILLE
Departure State GA
Departure Country
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 08A
Destination City WETUMPKA
Destination State AL
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 --