# Accident 20041128033099A: Piper PA22108, Big Pine, CA, November 28, 2004

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: November 28, 2004, 10:40 local time
- Place: Big Pine, CA
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Fcd/Prec Ldg From Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 37.2619° N, 117.8103° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.2619&lon=-117.8103&mi=10
- Aircraft: N4913Z, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N4913Z) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Piper PA-22-108 (registry code 7102204, https://openairdocs.org/model/piper-pa-22-108) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: PIPER PA22108
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 500 total, 400 in this make and model, 50 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX05LA042](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX05LA042) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20041128033099A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-23) ON 11/28/04 AT 1040 PST, A PIPER PA-22-108, N4913Z, WAS DAMAGED WHILE LANDING IN A FIELD AFTER A LOSS OF ENGINE POWER IN THE DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, APPROXIMATELY 24 NM NE OF BIG PINE CA. THE PILOT, ALSO THE REGISTERED OWNER OF THE AIRPLANE, WAS OPERATING UNDER 14 CFR PART 91. THE PILOT WAS NOT INJURED; THE AIRPLANE SUSTAINED SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE. VMC PREVAILED, AND NO FLIGHT PLAN HAD BEEN FILED. THE PILOT DEPARTED BULLHEAD CITY INT'L AIRPORT ABOUT 0800. THE PILOT'S FINAL DESTINATION WAS THE NAPA COUNTY AIRPORT, NAPA, CA. HE WAS PLANNING A FUEL STOP AT THE EASTERN SIERRA REGIONAL AIRPORT, BISHOP, CA. ACCORDING TO THE PILOT, WHEN HE WAS ABOUT 30 MILES FROM BISHOP, THE OIL PRESSURE NEEDLE WAS PEGGED ON THE HIGH SIDE OF THE INDICATOR. HE CLOSED THE THROTTLE AND THE OIL PRESSURE APPEARED TO RETURN THE NORMAL. THEN THE OIL PRESSURE FELL TO ZERO AND THE OIL TEMP. BEGAN TO RISE. THE PILOT SQUAWKED 7700 AND TUNED HIS RADIO TO 121.5. HE PREPARED TO LAND ON A ROAD, HOWEVER ON SHORT FINAL HE COULD NOT APPLY CONTROL PRESSURES THAT WOULD OVERCOME THE CROSSWIND CONDITION. HE TURNED THE AIRPLANE INTO THE WIND AND LANDED IN A DESERT FIELD. THE MAIN LANDING GEAR SHEARED FROM THE AIRPLANE DURING LANDING.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB LAX05LA042](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX05LA042), Nov 28, 2004: Piper PA-22-108 (N4913Z), Big Pine, CA, substantial damage. Probable cause: oil exhaustion due to an improper oil breather tube installation, which became plugged in flight due to frozen moisture build-up. The blocked breather tube then created a crankcase over pressure that…

## Other reports on N4913Z (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Accident 20180523005859A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20180523005859A), May 23, 2018: Piper PA-22-108 (N4913Z), Rayville, LA, Substantial damage. Airman was practicing takeoffs and landings on a private grass runway four miles southwest of the Rayville, LA (M79) airport in his tailwheel airplane in which…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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