- Date
- May 23, 1989, 22:00 local (May 24, 1989, 03:00 UTC)
- Place
- Edmond, OK
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3940XPiper PA-28R-200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report August 2, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890523013959A
- Case key
- 22866
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
Improper maintenance performed by the company mechanic who failed to tighten the oil sump plug, and also failed to safety it.
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 airplane was on a personal night cross-country flight when the pilot noticed a rapid loss of oil pressure and a full increase of propeller RPM. He headed toward the nearest airport but the engine failed completely. During the forced landing, the airplane touched down short of a iron pipe fence. The pilot tried to pull the airplane up over the fence but the landing gear sheared off when it hit the top of the fence. Inspection revealed there was no oil in the engine, no sump plug in the engine, and no evidence of the sump plug having ever been safetied. The number two cylinder also had a hole in it.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3940X
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28R-200
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7535361
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-C1C, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- James, Rodney C.
- Registered owner
- Stillwater Flt. Center, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- OKC · Oklahoma City, OK
- Destination
- SWO · Stillwater, OK
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
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 560 total · 54 in this make and model · 475 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 26 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 160° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.