Cedars North Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Battle Ground, Washington 98604
Monday, July 1, 2002 19:15 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, the aircraft lost oil pressure shortly after takeoff. During the landing attempt at a nearby airport, the aircraft overran the end of the runway and collided with a tree. A post-accident engine run and wreckage examination revealed that the aircraft's engine developed an extensive engine oil leak during the accident flight, and during a post-accident engine run. According to the FAA Inspector, and the operator of the aircraft, the leak originated from the engine accessory area where the oil temperature bulb attaches to the oil screen assembly. The operator reported that the oil temperature bulb appeared to have been improperly installed during an oil change that occurred approximately 15 minutes prior to the accident flight. The pilot of the accident aircraft, a certified mechanic, supervised the oil change that was performed by a non-certified mechanic who was employed by the pilot.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Improper maintenance procedures by maintenance personnel, which resulted in an engine oil leak while in flight. A factor was the pilot's misjudgment of distance during the precautionary landing which led to a runway overrun.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/1/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1915
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Battle Ground
Event State WASHINGTON
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 98604
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 455224N
Event Location Longitude 1223054W
Event Location Airport Cedars North Airpark
Event Location Nearest Airport ID W58
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 1
Degrees magnetic from airport 80
Airport Elevation 275
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1855 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID KPDX
Elevation of weather observation facility 30
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 11
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 7000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 310
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 8
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.18
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12896
NTSB Notification Source FAA-REGIONAL OPERATIONS
NTSB Notification Date Jul 1 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 15 2003 4:03PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Portland FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N37065
NTSB Number SEA02LA117
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 172 E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 17250906
Certified Max Gross Weight 2300
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 12 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 83
Airframe Hours 3276
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Gordon I. Buslack
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Vancouver
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98661
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Scott C Devlin
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address On File
Operator City Camas
Operator State WA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 98607
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 1W1
Departure City Camas
Departure State WA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1900
Departure Time Zone PDT
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 Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 2 2002 1:31PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 08
Runway Length 1960
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --