Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fort Worth Alliance Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Haslet, Texas 76052
Saturday, February 17, 2001 12:35 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was approximately 40 minutes into the flight and 4 miles south of the destination airport in a normal descent when the propeller increased to maximum RPM. Shortly thereafter, the oil pressure light illuminated, and the pilot noticed the oil pressure gauge was indicating zero. Subsequently, the engine lost power, and the pilot elected to land in a field approximately 2 miles south of the runway threshold. The airplane touched down on soft ground, separating its landing gear. A post-accident examination of the engine revealed that there was no oil remaining in the engine, the oil filter internal element was collapsed inward, the oil filter converter plate gasket was found separated from the plate and broken in half, and the oil filter bypass valve was found installed improperly. The collapsed oil filter element and blown converter plate gasket are indicative of a cold weather and/or a high RPM start. With cold oil, the oil pressure became excessive due to the faulty bypass valve resulting in collapse of the filter and failure of the oil filter converter plate gasket.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the improper installation of the oil filter bypass valve by an unknown person, which resulted in the loss of engine oil and subsequent loss of total power during a normal descent. A contributing factor to the accident was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/17/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1235 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Haslet |
| Event State | TEXAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 76052 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | FORT WORTH ALLIANCE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AFW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 160 |
| Airport Elevation | 700 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 6 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 17 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 23 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 3 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 11370 |
| NTSB Notification Source | |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 17 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1250 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 5 2002 9:58AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Worth, Texas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8355L |
| NTSB Number | FTW01LA068 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA32-R-301T |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R-8129051 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Not Registered |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 31 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 58.6 |
| Airframe Hours | 2239.4 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Larry Herrera |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 181 Hunter Street |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cedar Hill |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75104 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Hest Aviation |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 118 Meadow Brook |
| Operator City | Temple |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 76502 |
| 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 | ILE |
| Departure City | Killeen |
| Departure State | TX |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1145 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | AFW |
| Destination City | Haslet |
| Destination State | TX |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 16 2002 9:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MORJU |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34L |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |