Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Longmont, Colorado 80503
Thursday, July 19, 2007 9:00 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During the instructional flight, the instructor shut down the right engine and feathered the propeller. It was subsequently restarted, but the left engine started running rough and began to vibrate. The left engine was shut down and the propeller feathered. Level flight was maintained from power produced by the right engine. The left engine was then restarted but instead of producing thrust, the engine produced more drag so it was secured again. Then the right engine began losing power. Full power was applied but the airplane continued to descend. The instructor lowered the landing gear and while in-transit, the airplane clipped the tops of trees. He was able to guide the airplane between two houses and impacted an open field. The airplane bounced across the road, struck a power pole, and caught fire. The two pilots evacuated the airplane via the main cabin door. Examination at the airport of departure disclosed two pools of oil at the approximate positions of the two engines. There were two trails of oil leading from the parking spot down the taxiway and onto the runway. Both engines were partially disassembled and examined. There was evidence that both engines had failed catastrophically due to oil starvation. The left engine crankshaft was broken and all the piston heads were at the tops of their cylinders. Pieces of metal were recovered from the right engine oil sump. According to the operator, the engine rocker box recovery system must be drained during preflight to avoid hydraulic lock. The instructor stated that when they preflighted the airplane, the drain valves were open (the drained oil is captured and recycled). He thought they had closed both valves. According to the operator, either the pilot's failed to close the drain valves or they were jammed in the open position. The operator said the latter was unlikely "because you can feel it move when you close it."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The instructor pilot's improper preflight in that he failed to close the rocker box recovery system drain valves, resulting in a total loss of lubricating oil and subsequent oil starvation to both engines. A contributing factor was the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/19/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Longmont |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80503 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400670N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1050320W |
| 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 | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 171 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BJC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5670 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 17 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1400 |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.25 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 22298 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Northwest Mountain Region |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 19 2007 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 27 2007 11:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9562Z |
| NTSB Number | DEN07LA122 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | C-45H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AF-12 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9300 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 15 |
| Airframe Hours | 3925 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 62000 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Midland |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 79711 |
| 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 | 18V |
| Departure City | Hudson |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1V5 |
| Destination City | Boulder |
| Destination State | CO |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Descent |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 7 2007 10:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| 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 | -- |