Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Newberry Spring, California 92365
Monday, August 14, 2000 12:55 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

At 1247, during cruise flight, the pilot advised the radar controller that he had a little oil leak on his windshield. The severity of the leak increased, and 5 minutes later oil had covered the front windshield thus precluding visibility. One minute later, the pilot announced that he had "totally lost oil pressure." Prior to the engine seizing, the pilot attempted to make a forced landing on an interstate freeway. During flare, the airplane impacted three automobiles, cartwheeled, and came to rest upside down. Three days before the accident, the pilot had flown his airplane from Torrance, California, to Bullhead City, Arizona. En route, an engine oil leak became evident, which inhibited the pilot's ability to see through the front windshield. The pilot believed that engine oil was leaking past the engine's crankcase nose seal, aft of the propeller, and that replacing the seal would resolve the leakage problem. (Seepage had been documented in this crankshaft area during the last annual inspection that was completed 21 engine operational hours earlier.) The pilot flew 16 miles to near Needles, California, where repair services were available. Upon arrival, oil was dripping off the engine, and the pilot was advised by an engine shop to have the engine removed and repaired. The pilot declined indicating that he had insufficient funds. Instead, the pilot purchased the nose seal parts from the engine shop, and he hired a local independent mechanic to install them in his airplane. Upon completion of the maintenance, the mechanic requested that the pilot perform a ground run-up to check for leaks. The pilot declined and took off. The accident occurred about 40 minutes later, 92 miles from Needles. In 1986, about 537 engine operational hours earlier, the airplane's landing gear collapsed and the propeller was damaged. The crankcase was found cracked on its front, right side, and the engine was overhauled. The case was repaired, according to the maintenance records. During the last annual inspection, oil seepage was noted on the front, right side of the case. During the accident investigation, a weld was noted on the front, right side of the case, and electrical arc marks were noted about 2.3 inches inside the crankshaft bore. The crankshaft was found to have fractured, and the fracture had originated at the site of the arc marks creating a stress riser in the crankshaft. As the fracture progressed, it provided an avenue for oil to escape from the crankshaft and propagate through the nose seal.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The crankshaft's fatigue failure at the site of an electrical arc mark stress riser, during cruise flight. Contributing factors were the pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, improper decision, and maintenance.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/14/2000
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1255
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City NEWBERRY SPRING
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 92365
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 344733N
Event Location Longitude 1162909W
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 1252 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 270
Weather Observation Facility ID DAG
Elevation of weather observation facility 1927
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 16
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 35
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 40
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 80
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 1
On Ground, Serious Injuries 1
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11996
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 14 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1400
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 15 2002 12:15PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N878R
NTSB Number LAX00FA300
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model K35
Aircraft Series Identifier K35
Aircraft Serial Number D-6059
Certified Max Gross Weight 2950
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 21
Airframe Hours 4757
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name KENNETH L. TULL
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City HERMOSA BEACH
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 90254
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 A09
Departure City Needles
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1215
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code TOA
Destination City TORRANCE
Destination State CA
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 16 2002 2:32PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --