# Incident 20170404012939I: Cessna 182L, Piedmont, MO, April 4, 2017

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: April 4, 2017, 07:39 local time
- Place: Piedmont, MO
- Airport: Piedmont Municipal
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 37.1261° N, 90.7135° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at PIEDMONT MUNI (PYN), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.1261&lon=-90.7135&mi=10
- Aircraft: N42580, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N42580) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cessna 182L (registry code 2072726, https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-182l) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Continental O-470 series (registry code 17026, https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CESSNA 182L
- Reported engine: CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot, flight instructor
- Pilot flight hours: 2,721 total
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20170404012939I

## Narrative

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

PILOT AND ONE PASSENGER WERE IN ROUTE FROM KENNETT, MO (KTKX) TO JEFFERSON, MO (KJEF) ON AN IFR FLIGHT PLAN. THE PILOT STATED THE ENGINE SETTINGS WERE 23? OF MANIFOLD PRESSURE AT 2350-2400 RPM?S AND WAS LEANED TO POH RECOMMENDED SETTINGS.  THE PILOT STATED THAT WHEN THEY WERE ABOUT 15 NM NORTHWEST OF PIEDMONT, MO (KPYN) AT 6000 FT. THEY HEARD A MUFFLED BANG UNDER THE COWL. THE ENGINE IMMEDIATELY VIBRATED AND THE PILOT NOTICED A DROP IN POWER. THE PILOT SELECTED THE NEAREST BUTTON ON THE GPS TO FIND THE CLOSEST SUITABLE RUNWAY, WHICH WAS KPYN. HE THEN STARTED A TURN TO KPYN AND CONTACTED KANSAS CITY CENTER TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. HE STATED TO THE CONTROLLER THAT THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING ROUGH AND WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE. THE PILOT SHUT THE ENGINE DOWN BY PULLING THE MIXTURE. ABOUT 5 MIN INTO THE EMERGENCY THE PILOT PUT THE MIXTURE BACK IN TO SEE IF HE COULD GET SOME POWER OUT OF IT. THE ENGINE THEN STARTED AND PRODUCED ENOUGH POWER TO HOLD ALTITUDE FOR ABOUT 30 SECONDS UNTIL THE NOSE STARTED TO DROP AGAIN. THE ENGINE STILL PRODUCED A SLIGHT AMOUNT OF POWER, JUST ENOUGH TO MAKE A SAFE LANDING AT KPYN.

THE PILOT HAD A MECHANIC COME TO KPYN TO INSPECT THE ENGINE.  THE MECHANIC SAID IN A WRITTEN STATEMENT THAT HE FOUND A DAMAGED PISTON ON THE NUMBER ONE CYLINDER. THE TOP OF THE PISTON WAS GONE BUT THE PISTON PIN WAS VISIBLE. THE DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE SEEMED TO BE ISOLATED TO THE NUMBER ONE CYLINDER. THE ENGINE WAS FULL OF ALUMINUM FROM THE PISTON COMING APART. THE PROBABLE CAUSE OF LOSING OIL PRESSURE WAS BECAUSE OF OIL CONTAMINATION IN THE OIL PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE. THE ENGINE STILL TURNED AND THE OTHER FIVE CYLINDERS STILL HAD SOME COMPRESSION.

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.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.