Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Alamo, Nevada 89001
Tuesady, October 9, 2007 12:44 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that before departing for the cross-country flight, he added 1 quart of oil to the engine, for a total of 7 quarts. About an 1 hour 30 minutes into the flight, he noticed a rise in oil temperature. The pilot opened the cowl flaps and increased the mixture. This resulted in a drop in exhaust gas temperature (EGT). The oil temperature continued to rise; however, the oil pressure indicated a low reading. The pilot declared an emergency, and prepared to land on a dirt road. The pilot reported that the engine was backfiring before it suddenly stopped (froze). Once the engine quit, the airplane rolled sharply to the right. The pilot was able to correct back to level flight and landed in a sagebrush field close to a road, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings. Examination of the wreckage revealed a hole in the crankcase above and below the number 4 cylinder. An attempt was made to manually rotate the crankshaft; however, only partial rotation was possible about 8 inches in either direction. The examination also revealed no oil on the outside of the airplane or on the cowl. Investigators drained the oil out of the oil sump for a total of 0.75 to 1.25 quarts of oil. Along with the oil, portions of crankcase, lifter, piston, and connecting rod material were in the oil sump. The oil filter was opened and contained metallic debris throughout the filament and in the can. All of the cylinders exhibited internal mechanical damage, as well as thermal damage to the number 4 connecting rod journal. The number 2 piston compression ring remained in its ring land, but had broken into several pieces. Extensive oil coking signatures were noted around the circumference of the number 2 piston at the ring land, which is consistent with oil burn.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the number 2 cylinder piston compression ring, which resulted in oil exhaustion and a catastrophic internal engine failure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/9/2007 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1244 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Alamo |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89001 |
| Event Date Year | 2007 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 371512N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1150612W |
| 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 | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 171 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VGT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2205 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 63 |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| 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 |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24367 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 6 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 26 2008 6:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Las Vegas, NV FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9612M |
| NTSB Number | LAX08LA008 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20F |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 670189 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2740 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 100 |
| Airframe Hours | 4399 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Daniel F. Miller |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lake Tapps |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98391 |
| 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 | GNG |
| Departure City | GOODING |
| Departure State | ID |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VGT |
| Destination City | LAS VEGAS |
| Destination State | NV |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 19 2008 4:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| 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 | -- |