Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Henry's Lake, Idaho 83433
Monday, July 21, 2003 12:45 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that about five minutes after takeoff, the oil low pressure light illuminated and shortly thereafter he heard a knocking sound coming from the engine. The pilot shut the engine down and attempted to return to the airport of departure. Unable to make it to the airport, a power-off landing was made to a rough open field about one mile from the runway. Although the touchdown was uneventful, during the landing roll, the aircraft encountered a ditch, which resulted in the separation of the nose gear and substantial damage to the aircraft structure. On site inspection of the aircraft indicated that oil residue was noted at the aft end of the engine around the accessory section. After the tail was lowered, a noticeable oil leak was noted around the vacuum pump flange (approximately 6 drops per minute). Further inspection of the engine found that the pneumatic pump gasket had failed and was blown out the top between the mating surfaces of the pump and the mounting pad. All four mounting nuts of the pump were found only slightly more than finger tight and were removed with no resistance. The internal star locking washers were in place under the nuts and had been crushed indicating proper torque at one time. Standard torque on these nuts is 90" pounds.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A set of inadequately torqued vacuum pump retaining nuts, leading to the failure of the vacuum pump gasket, resulting in oil exhaustion, which resulted in a loss of engine power during cruise. A ditch and rough uneven terrain were factors.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/21/2003
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1245
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Henry's Lake
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83433
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 443855N
Event Location Longitude 1112129W
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 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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 32
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 5
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15583
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Jul 21 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1135
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 Salt Lake FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N146NE
NTSB Number SEA03LA146
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 182S
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18280221
Certified Max Gross Weight 3100
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 Jul 1 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 207
Airframe Hours 880
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Idaho Rail Shop Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1785 Craft Rd
Aircraft Owner City Pocatello
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83204
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Michael L. Bartu
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Pocatello
Operator State ID
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 82301
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code U53
Departure City Henry's Lake
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1228
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PIH
Destination City Pocatello
Destination State ID
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 3:28PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --