Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Eliz Island Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Eliza Island, Washington 98262
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 11:00 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that the airplane had recently underwent an annual inspection and the accident flight was to be the first flight after the maintenance. After about 10 to 15 minutes into the flight, the engine experienced a total loss of power. During a forced landing to a grass strip, the pilot turned the controls over to his more experienced pilot-rated passenger to perform the landing. As the airplane slowed for landing, the automatic landing gear extension system deployed the landing gear. The airplane subsequently landed short of the runway and the right wing struck a post. The fuselage was twisted and both wings were bent/wrinkled as a result. A postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the crankcase was cracked and the bottom of the fuselage was covered with oil. The oil was traced to originate from a fitting that attached the propeller governor high-pressure oil line from the nose of the crankcase to the propeller governor. The fitting was found to be loose and likely not adequately tightened by maintenance personnel. Maintenance records indicated that during the annual inspection the propeller governor on the engine's accessory section had been removed in an effort to replace its gasket.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The total loss of engine power during cruise flight due to the failure of maintenance personnel to tighten a fitting on the propeller governor oil line, which resulted in a loss of engine oil and catastrophic engine failure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/17/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1100 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Eliza Island |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98262 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 483914N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1223513W |
| Event Location Airport | Eliz Island Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WA93 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 8 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1053 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 13 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BLI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 149 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 180 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.53 |
| 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) | 27859 |
| 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 | Dec 2 2010 1:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1KU |
| NTSB Number | WPR10LA165 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7135161 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 24 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3278 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PRATER KEITH B |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | LANGLEY BC |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | V2Z 2W6 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PRATER KEITH B |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | LANGLEY BC |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | V2Z 2W6 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BLI |
| Departure City | Bellingham |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | BLI |
| Destination City | Bellingham |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 2 2010 1:50PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 1500 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |