- Date
- April 20, 1991, 10:50 local (15:50 UTC)
- Place
- Bessemer, AL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N503GPiper PA-28R-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910420011699A
- Case key
- 8397
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Rupture of a high-time, rubber, oil cooler hose, which resulted in a loss of engine oil, oil exhaustion, and seizure of the engine.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
A completed preflight inspection determined that all systems were operational prior to departure. The pilot also confirmed that 7 1/2 quarts of engine oil was in the crankcase. A few minutes into the flight the pilot could not adjust the propeller pitch, and he also noticed that the engine oil pressure was dropping. He elected to return to the airport. En route to the airport the engine quit and seized. The airplane collided with a railroad signal box while the pilot was attempting an emergency landing on a county road. Examination of the airplane disclosed that a rubber oil cooler hose had ruptured. The maintenance records indicated that the failed hose had been in service for 3141 hours since installation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N503G
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 284-7435061
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Aztec Aviation, Inc.
- Departed
- 2A3 · Bessemer, AL
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 39
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 4,000 total · 150 in this make and model · 3,800 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 11 knots, gusting 20
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,200 ft broken
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.