- Date
- December 27, 1983, 22:10 local (Dec 28, 1983, 05:10 UTC)
- Place
- Great Falls, MT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N39451Lake LA-4-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19831227069979A
- Case key
- 16308
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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
The acft was damaged in a forced landing on a highway after the engine seized. The plt said 'the engine made unusual sounds of an engine running bad.' Then it lost compression and seized. He made a forced landing on a highway and damagedthe hull. Examination of the acft revealed a situation where the main oil breather froze preventing oil vapor pressure from venting; causing the engine seals to fail and thereby depletng the oil supply.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N39451
- Reported as
- Lake LA-4-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 541
- Airframe hours
- 1,075
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Wilfred R. Frost
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 15, 1983
- Departed
- MSO · Missoula, MT
- Destination
- MLS · Miles City, MT
- Airport
- GTF · Great Falls
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
- 36
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,865 total · 8 in this make and model · 1,650 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 220° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Temperature
- -9 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GTF
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.