- Date
- October 8, 1987, 19:25 local (Oct 9, 1987, 00:25 UTC)
- Place
- Kerrville, TX
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N57257Mooney M-20-J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 24, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19871008060089A
- Case key
- 22581
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
Acft was substantially damaged when it collided with a road sign and the grnd during an off arpt emergency lndg following a complete eng failure during descent. Plt stated that about 20 mins out from his dest, the oil press decreased into the yellow arc, but oil temp and cyl head temp remained normal. During the descent, oil press decreased into the red and the eng started vibrating. Shortly thereafter the eng seized. Investigation revealed that the #4 piston connecting rod had separated due to oil starvation, resulting in severe internal damage to the eng. Two qts of heavy, black oil were drained frm the eng. The cause of the oil starvation was not determined during the investigation. The plts stated that they had departed 4.5 hrs prior to the acdt with slightly over 5 qts of oil in the eng. Eng had been operated a total of 320 hrs.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N57257
- Reported as
- Mooney M-20-J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 241605
- Airframe hours
- 320
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Lawrence W. Moulton
- Registered owner
- Moulton, Lawrence W
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 20, 1986 · 20 hours before
- Departed
- TUS · Tucson, AZ
- Destination
- ERV
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 234 total · 56 in this make and model · 123 as pilot in command · 34 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 120° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SAT, 45 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.