Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fort Carson, Colorado 80913
Thursday, February 17, 2000 14:40 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While on a cross country flight, a seal on the turbocharger failed and the pilot made an emergency landing at the nearest airport when the engine lost some oil pressure and smoke entered the cockpit. After inspecting the aircraft, adding 8 quarts of oil to the engine, having a mechanic cap the oil lines to the turbocharger, and wiring the turbocharger waste gate open the pilot elected to fly the aircraft to another airport for permanent repairs. While on approach, the engine failed catastrophically with a rod coming out the side of the engine casing. An emergency landing was made on a dirt road on a military reservation without further damage. According to the engine specification data, the engine had an 8-quart total oil capacity with 2 quarts minimum safe quantity in the sump. An engine examination revealed heat distress in the area where the failure occurred.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot electing to fly the aircraft with known deficiencies which resulted in a catastrophic engine failure. Factors were a connecting rod failure, and low engine oil level.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 2/17/2000
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 1440
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City FORT CARSON
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80913
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 2
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1454 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 20
Weather Observation Facility ID COS
Elevation of weather observation facility 5930
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
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) -1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 340
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 5400
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 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 5001
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Feb 17 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1900
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 1:27PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N155HC
NTSB Number DEN00IA052
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model TR182
Aircraft Series Identifier TR182
Aircraft Serial Number R18201277
Certified Max Gross Weight 3100
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 Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Jul 15 1999 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 78
Airframe Hours 1892
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name UNIVERSAL LOSS MANAGEMENT
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 795728
Aircraft Owner City DALLAS
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75379
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PUB
Departure City PUEBLO
Departure State CO
Departure Country
Departure Time 1415
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code COS
Destination City COLO. SPRINGS
Destination State CO
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
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 --