Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lopez Island, Washington 98261
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 19:45 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that during cruise flight, the propeller rpm continued increasing despite his numerous attempts to reduce the propeller rpm. As the pilot reduced power, he heard a loud bang followed by a "significant trail of white smoke pouring over the wind screen" and a loss of engine power. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a nearby road that appeared to have no vehicle traffic. The pilot stated that he extended his approach to landing due to a vehicle turning onto the road. During the landing roll, the left wing struck a street sign and subsequently struck "two or three large wooden fence posts that were hidden in the bramble of blackberry bushes” that resulted in structural damage to the empennage and the left and right wings. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the oil filler cap was unsecured to the oil filler neck. Oil residue was observed along the left side of the airframe and engine cowling. Further examination of the engine revealed that the two aft nuts securing the propeller governor to the crankcase mounting pad were loose. Oil residue was observed within the surrounding area of the propeller governor. About 1 quart of oil was observed within the oil sump. Review of maintenance logbooks revealed that the engine was recently disassembled and inspected due to a propeller strike. Following the propeller strike inspection, the propeller governor was reinstalled. The pilot reported that the accident flight was the first flight following the propeller strike inspection and that he verified the oil level was adequate during his preflight inspection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power during cruise flight due to oil starvation. The oil starvation event was due to the failure of maintenance personnel to tighten the aft mounting nuts for the newly installed propeller governor and the pilot’s failure to secure the oil filler cap during the preflight inspection.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/15/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1945 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lopez Island |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98261 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 482600N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1225300W |
| 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 | 1953 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 300 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FHR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 113 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 4 |
| 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) | 8 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 26009 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2009 10:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N464TJ |
| NTSB Number | WPR09LA197 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY |
| Aircraft Model | A36 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | E-3052 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3620 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 25 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 0.5 |
| Airframe Hours | 1237.6 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN ELLIOT RUTTER III |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | WOODINVILLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98072 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | JOHN ELLIOT RUTTER III |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | WOODINVILLE |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98072 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | PAE |
| Departure City | Everett |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1915 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | FHR |
| Destination City | Friday Harbor |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 3 2009 5:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | cawj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |