Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Battle Creek, Michigan 49017
Thursday, November 2, 2006 13:54 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Air traffic controllers received an emergency radio call from a person representing the airplane. The pilot responded that oil was on the airplane's windshield and that oil pressure was zero. The airplane was given a heading to divert to the closest airport. The pilot was asked if he could maintain altitude and he responded "no." The pilot advised that he was going to land in a field. Air traffic controllers alerted crash, fire, and rescue personnel of the airplane's location. The airplane was found near the top of a crest in rolling pastureland about eight miles northeast of the diversion airport. The empennage was streaked with a liquid consistent with oil. The windshield was broken and pieces of it were coated with a liquid consistent with oil. An on-scene examination of the wreckage revealed no airframe pre-impact anomalies. The top right side of the engine, aft facing forward, was coated with a liquid consistent with oil. The engine case and cylinders showed no pre-impact anomalies that would have precluded engine operation. The top of the separated reduction gear case was coated with a liquid consistent with oil. Disassembly showed that the upper right section of the nose seal assembly, which sealed against the reduction gear case, exhibited an area coated with a liquid consistent with oil. The remainder of the seal was intact and was not coated with liquid. The airplane did not have shoulder harnesses installed and was not required to have them installed. Advisory Circular 91-65, Use of Shoulder Harness in Passenger Seats, in part, stated, "The [National Transportation Safety Board] concluded that shoulder harness use is the most effective way of reducing fatalities and serious injuries in general aviation accidents."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power while in cruise flight due to an oil leak from the nose seal of the reduction gear case. Contributing to the accident were the oil leak, the pilot's reduced visibility out the windscreen, and rising terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/2/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1354 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Battle Creek |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49017 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422450N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0850698W |
| 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 | 1353 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BTL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 952 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 8 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| 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) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KBTL 021853Z 26016KT 10SM SCT016 SCT030 BKN047 M01 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23344 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Nov 2 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 30 2008 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Grand Rapids, MI, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9408B |
| NTSB Number | CHI07FA016 |
| 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 | 175 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 55208 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2350 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4297.5 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Peter C. Fay |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Mundelein |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 600060 |
| 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 | BAX |
| Departure City | BAD AXE |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Chicago |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 24 2008 10:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |