Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Alpine, California 91901
Sunday, June 4, 2006 12:56 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane lost oil pressure in flight and was damaged in an encounter with rough terrain during a forced landing. The oil sump quick drain valve was replaced the day of the accident. On the first flight following the replacement, 2 quarts of oil were lost. The aviation maintenance technician retorqued the valve and the maintenance test flight was successful. The instructor departed on a local instructional flight with a student and about 50 minutes into the flight, oil pressure decreased and the engine revolutions per minute were fluctuating. The instructor shut down the engine and force landed the airplane. The installed oil sump quick drain valve, a Safe-Air 5000, had an extension of 1.9 inches. The approved Piper quick drain valve (Piper part number 492-172V) has an extension of 0.21-inch. Airworthiness Directive 81-11-02 R1 states that unapproved drain valves can cause inadvertent draining of oil when the gear is retracted and that only Piper approved parts should be used for the oil sump quick drain installation in this airplane model.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a loss of engine power due to the aviation maintenance technician's failure to install the correct oil sump quick drain, which resulted in the inadvertent draining of engine oil during flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/4/2006
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1256
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Alpine
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 91901
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 324907N
Event Location Longitude 1164550W
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 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) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Light and Variable
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency --
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20363
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 3 2006 2:46PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4438T
NTSB Number LAX06CA191
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Piper
Aircraft Model PA-28R-200
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 28R-7235050
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Anglo American Aviation, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City El Cajon
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 92020
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code SEE
Departure City El Cajon
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1200
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 --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 7 2006 5:17PM
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 --