Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Castaic, California 91384
Saturday, July 10, 2004 11:59 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with an automobile and nosed over during a forced landing on an interstate highway following a catastrophic engine failure. The pilot was ferrying the airplane to its new owner. During the ferry flight, the airplane was losing oil so repairs were made. The last maintenance entry made during the en route repairs stated in part, "Recommended new oil tank as soon as possible." The ferry pilot continued, and the recommended installation of a new oil tank was not completed. A few hours south of the airplane's destination, the engine lost power. Post accident examination revealed oil along the underside of the fuselage and approximately 3/4-quart of oil indicated on the dipstick. The number 2 connecting rod had separated and the connecting rod and its crankshaft journal were black and blue in color. The oil screen was removed and it was found to be only finger tight. The routing of the oil travels from the sump, to the oil pump, through the oil screen, to the engine. If the screen is loose then oil has the ability to leak out.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
a catastrophic engine failure due to oil exhaustion, which was caused by the failure of maintenance personnel to completely tighten the oil screen.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/10/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1159 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Castaic |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 91384 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 343145N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1183857W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1153 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 60 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PMD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2543 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 270 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.98 |
| 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) | 17992 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 10 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1215 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 7 2005 10:33AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-VNY-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2542H |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA257 |
| 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 | Ercoupe |
| Aircraft Model | 415-C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3167 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1260 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 21 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17.6 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James Rezendes |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Citrus Heights |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 95610 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Marc South |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Phoenix |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85015 |
| 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 | POC |
| Departure City | La Verne |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1111 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | L36 |
| Destination City | Rio LInda |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 9 2005 4:37PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |