Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Big Pine, California 93513
Sunday, November 28, 2004 10:40 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The main landing gear sheared from the airplane during a forced landing on rough, desert terrain. When the pilot was about 30 nautical miles from his destination, the oil pressure needle was pegged on the high side of the indicator. He closed the throttle, and the oil pressure appeared to return to normal. Then, the oil pressure needle fell to zero and the oil temperature began to rise. He prepared to land on a road; however, on short final he could not maintain directional control and alignment with the road due to a crosswind condition. He turned the airplane into the wind and landed in a desert field. Post accident examination revealed that the main crankshaft seal was extruded outward and oil was pumped out during the flight. Approximately 1.5 quarts of oil were drained from the engine prior to its teardown. The engine manufacturer's representative examined the engine crankcase, crankshaft nose seal, and breather tube on January 24, 2005. The seal bore exhibited witness marks indicating that the seal had been occupying the bore properly. In addition, the corresponding witness marks on the crankshaft where the seal had been in contact indicated that the seal had been positioned correctly. The engine breather tube extended from the firewall area, aft to the trailing edge of the right main landing gear strut, which was inconsistent with breather tube length. The breather tube did not have a whistle slot installed. The airplane was originally a show airplane. The breather tube was designed to drain in a way that would prevent oil and moisture from draining onto the airplane. However, due to its nonstandard design, the end of the tube was susceptible to icing. An edition of the Lycoming Flyer stated the following, in part: "Under very cold conditions, this moisture may freeze and continue a buildup of ice until the tube is completely blocked. It is normal practice for the airframe manufacturer to provide some means of preventing freeze-up of the crankcase breather tube. The breather tube may be insulated, it may be designed so the end is located in a hot area, it may be equipped with an electric heater, or it may incorporate a hole, notch or slot which is often called a "whistle slot." When a breather tube with whistle slot is changed, the new tube must be of the same design."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
oil exhaustion due to an improper oil breather tube installation, which became plugged in flight due to frozen moisture build-up. The blocked breather tube then created a crankcase over pressure that caused a failure of the crankshaft seal. The rough, uneven terrain and strong crosswind were factors in the accident.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/28/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1040 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Big Pine |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 93513 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 371543N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1174837W |
| 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 | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1056 Pacific Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 268 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BIH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4120 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 33 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PST |
| 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) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 19 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 27 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| 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) | 19216 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 28 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1116 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2006 12:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-LAS-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4913Z |
| NTSB Number | LAX05LA042 |
| 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-22-108 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 22-8499 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | Jun 24 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 100 |
| Airframe Hours | 2663 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Philip Haupt |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Crockett |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 94525 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | IFP |
| Departure City | Bullhead City |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 800 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | APC |
| Destination City | Napa |
| 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 | Dec 1 2005 6:37PM |
| 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 | -- |