Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pagosa Springs, Colorado 81147
Monday, January 14, 2002 11:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said that both engines developed good power during the takeoff roll. After climbing to 8,400 feet, the right engine started missing badly and blue smoke was observed coming from the inboard side of the engine cowling. The pilot said that he shut the engine down, and turned back towards the airport. He decided to restart the right engine, but the engine seized up approximately 20 seconds after he restarted it. He performed a forced landing to a small field on a heavy forested ridge approximately 2 miles south of the airport. Both wings were bent, and the fuselage was wrinkled. The airplane's Pilot Owners Handbook indicates that the airplane's single engine absolute ceiling is 6,400 feet. The salvage/recovery team reported that they found excessive oil on and around the right engine nacelle. The exact cause of the oil system failure was never determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the total power failure of the right engine due to the failure of its lubricating system. Contributing factors were the lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing, and the terrain being above the airplane's single engine performance capability.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/14/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1130
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Pagosa Springs
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81147
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 371440N
Event Location Longitude 1070345W
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID DRO
Elevation of weather observation facility 6685
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.08
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 4
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12744
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Jan 14 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1245
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 1 2003 4:20PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, CO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6935Y
NTSB Number DEN02LA018
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 PA-23-250
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 27-4292
Certified Max Gross Weight 5200
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 6
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection May 31 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 104
Airframe Hours 5006
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Robert D. Hagberg
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Forest City
Aircraft Owner State NC
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 28043
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 2V1
Departure City Pagosa Springs
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1125
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SAF
Destination City Santa Fe
Destination State NM
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Dec 10 2002 1:17PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight --
Air Medical Flight --
Medical Flight --