Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Vero Beach Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vero Beach, Florida 32960
Saturday, April 18, 1998 9:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The flight was on climb out when the pilot experienced a loss of engine power. The pilot radioed the air traffic control tower and reported the engine problem. The pilot was cleared for a downwind emergency landing on runway 29R. The airplane landed on the first 1/3 of the runway, and rolled off the departure end of the 3500 foot long paved surface, and collided with a ditch. The examination of the engine assembly disclosed that the engine oil tank was ruptured; there was no oil recovered from the engine lubrication system. The examination of the oil tank assembly disclosed that a plastic plug blocked the oil tank breather line. According to the operator of the airplane, the oil tank had been removed, and was painted several days prior to the accident. During the painting operation, all holes, in the tank, including the oil tank breather line, were covered with plastic plugs.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The maintenance personnel failure to remove a plastic plug from the oil tank breather that resulted in the rupture of the engine oil tank. Factors were, a tailwind during the emergency landing, and a ditch on the departure end of the runway.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/18/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | VERO BEACH |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32960 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | VERO BEACH MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VRB |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 25 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 950 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 1 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VRB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 25 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 360 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 28 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| 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) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1500 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 463 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 18 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:54AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N51S |
| NTSB Number | ATL98LA062 |
| 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 | STEWART 51 INC. |
| Aircraft Model | S-51D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | S-51D |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 013 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 10 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 436 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | STEWART 51 INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3120 AIRPORT WEST ROAD |
| Aircraft Owner City | VERO BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32960 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 929 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 29R |
| Runway Length | 3504 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |