Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Opa Locka West Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Opa-Locka, Florida 33054
Saturday, September 1, 1990 16:37 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING NORMAL CRUISE FLT, THE PLT REPORTED THAT THE RPM WAS DECREASING & THE OIL TEMPERATURE WAS INCREASING. THE ENG THEN SEIZED. WITH POOR FWD VISIBILITY DUE TO OIL COVERING THE WINDSCREEN, HE OVERSHOT THE FIELD HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO LAND IN. THE ACFT COLLIDED WITH A FENCE THEN NOSED OVER. EXAM OF THE ENG REVEALED THAT THE NUMBER 3 CYLINDER CONNECTING ROD END CAP SEPARATED, EXISTED THE CASE & CAME TO REST IN THE OIL SUMP. LYCOMING ENG PERSONNEL STATED THAT THE SEPARATION OF THE ROD CAP WAS DUE TO A LACK OF LUBRICATION WHICH CAUSED THE ROD BOLTS TO STRETCH, LOSING THEIR TORQUE, & ONE OF THE TWO NUTS VIBRATED OFF. THE OTHER ROD BOLT FAILED DUE TO OVERLOAD. THE ENG RECEIVED A TOP OVERHAUL 136 HRS EARLIER & A MAJOR OVERHAUL WAS PERFORMED 2,122 HRS EARLIER. NO DETERMINATION COULD BE MADE AS TO THE REASON FOR THE LACK OF LUBRICATION.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
ENGINE FAILURE DUE TO LACK OF OIL SUPPLY TO THE NUMBER 3 CYLINDER CONNECTING ROD FOR UNDETERMINED REASONS. THIS ALLOWED THE CONNECTING ROD END CAP TO SEPARATE THROUGH THE CASE RESULTING IN OIL EXHAUSTION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/1/1990 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1637 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | OPA-LOCKA |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33054 |
| Event Date Year | 1990 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | OPA LOCKA WEST |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | X46 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 103 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | OPF |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | -18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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) | 1255 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 4 1990 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 800 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 42434 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 18 2002 11:28AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\GIUV |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N70659 |
| NTSB Number | MIA90LA181 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | J3C-65 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | J3C-65 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17679 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 20 1990 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 32 |
| Airframe Hours | 20378 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AERIAL SIGN COMPANY, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7501 PEMBROKE RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | HOLLYWOOD |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33023 |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | HWO |
| Departure City | HOLLYWOOD |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1545 |
| 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 | Landing |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |