- Date
- May 13, 1992, 19:00 local (May 14, 1992, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Hopkinsville, KY
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4MGAerotek Pitts S-1S
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 11, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920513014829A
- Case key
- 11786
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
The failure of the number 2 oil ring in the number 4 engine cylinder resulting in oil leakage, loss of oil pressure, and engine power loss.
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
En route from mountain view, Missouri, to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, the airplane's engine oil pressure dropped from 78 PSI to 70 PSI. A precautionary landing was made and a visual check of the airplane was accomplished. The oil pressure was still indicating a safe pressure, so the pilot continued the flight to Hopkinsville. Approximately 5 nautical miles outside of Hopkinsville, the engine's oil pressure dropped to zero and the engine lost partial power. The pilot was making a forced landing on a highway when the airplane struck a single guy wire stretched across the highway. The airplane impacted the ground, nosed over and slid approximately 90 feet before coming to rest upright. An engine inspection revealed an excessive amount of oil in the exhaust stack and port of the number 4 cylinder. Examination of the number 4 cylinder revealed the following: a broken oil ring, the number 2 ring frozen in the groove of the piston, and one of the piston plugs was worn with excessive wear on the piston plug's hole.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4MG
- Reported as
- Aerotek Pitts S-1S
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1-0016
- Airframe hours
- 1,020
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-B4A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Meyer M. Gutman/J. Riedlbauer
- Registered owner
- Meyer M. Gutman/J. Riedlbauer
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Aerobatic
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 7, 1992 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- 2M0 · Princeton, KY
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
- 47
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 3,422 total · 1,020 in this make and model · 3,180 as pilot in command · 19 in the last 90 days · 15 in the last 30 days · 12 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HOP, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.