20230811015819I

Incident · No damage

FAA incident report · Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P2004 BRAVO · Inverness, FL · August 11, 2023

Date: August 11, 2023 · 11:30 local
Place: Inverness, FL
Phase of flight: Cruise/Level Flight
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: No damage
Aircraft: N29EB
Reported as: Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P2004 Bravo
Reported engine: ROTAX 912ULS series
People aboard: 2
Fatal injuries: 0
Other injuries: 0
Pilot’s certificate: Sport pilot
Pilot’s flight hours: 478 total

N29EBRegistered now · Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P2004 BRAVOS/N 134 · Built 2009 Airframe modelCostruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P2004 BRAVO Engine modelRotax 912ULS series4 cycle

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry 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.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

Pilot was flying at 3000' when passenger stated they smelled something. Pilot looked outside to see oil and smoke coming from under the cowling. Pilot decided to quickly descend believing that a fire was imminent and declared mayday on frequency 121.5. Pilot considered flying to Inverness airport (kinv) but decided a nearby road/highway or field was a better choice. Pilot located state route 44 and found to be unoccupied by any vehicles, made a normal approach to landing and executed an uneventful landing. Afterwards, pilot was able to taxi to a nearby parking lot and pilot and passenger evacuated the aircraft unharmed.

As the FAA filed it

PILOT WAS FLYING AT 3000' WHEN PASSENGER STATED THEY SMELLED SOMETHING. PILOT LOOKED OUTSIDE TO SEE OIL AND SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE COWLING. PILOT DECIDED TO QUICKLY DESCEND BELIEVING THAT A FIRE WAS IMMINENT AND DECLARED MAYDAY ON FREQUENCY 121.5. PILOT CONSIDERED FLYING TO INVERNESS AIRPORT (KINV) BUT DECIDED A NEARBY ROAD/HIGHWAY OR FIELD WAS A BETTER CHOICE. PILOT LOCATED STATE ROUTE 44 AND FOUND TO BE UNOCCUPIED BY ANY VEHICLES, MADE A NORMAL APPROACH TO LANDING AND EXECUTED AN UNEVENTFUL LANDING. AFTERWARDS, PILOT WAS ABLE TO TAXI TO A NEARBY PARKING LOT AND PILOT AND PASSENGER EVACUATED THE AIRCRAFT UNHARMED.