Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Salem, Oregon 97301
Thursday, May 15, 2003 16:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while cruising at 11,500 feet in order to get over some clouds, the engine slowly started losing power. Because it appeared to him that it might be carburetor icing, the pilot applied carburetor heat, but the engine continued to lose more power. Eventually the engine lost enough power that the pilot was unable to hold altitude, and he therefore found it necessary to descend and attempt a forced landing in an open field. Although the touchdown was uneventful, during the landing roll the aircraft encountered some rough terrain, resulting in substantial damage. A post-accident engine teardown inspection found a large hole in the top of the crankcase, and numerous internal parts failures. There were also several components within the engine that displayed coloration signatures consistent with heat stress due to lack of lubrication, but an inspection of the oil filter, oil filter adapter, propeller governor, push rod seals, oil pressure line, dipstick tube, oil sump quick drain, oil pump, tachometer drive, and oil filler port/cap found no evidence of a pre-event oil leak. Ultimately, the initiating event leading to the sequence of events resulting in the catastrophic engine failure could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of power in cruise flight due to a catastrophic engine failure for undetermined reasons.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/15/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Salem |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97301 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 445456N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225352W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1556 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSLE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 214 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 20 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15580 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 15 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1600 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| 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 | N2913F |
| NTSB Number | SEA03LA082 |
| 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 | 182J |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18257013 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Jim L. Traughber |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Bend |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97702 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | HIO |
| Departure City | Hillsboro |
| Departure State | OR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1520 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HNW |
| Destination City | Placerville |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 5 2004 3:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |