- Date
- March 17, 1990, 15:11 local (21:11 UTC)
- Place
- Rio Hondo, TX
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4696LCessna 172G
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 23117
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
Oil starvation induced power loss due to improper maintenance procedures. Contributing to the accident were inadequate maintenance inspection and the soft terrain in which the forced landing was performed.
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 pilot stated that while in cruise flight at 2,500 feet, he noticed an increase in engine RPM and detected smoke in the cabin. After reducing throttle to a controllable RPM, he noticed that the engine oil pressure was zero. He subsequently executed a forced landing to an open brushy area that was the best available. During roll out the nose gear dug into the soft ground and the airplane flipped over. Investigation revealed that the propeller governor oil line fitting had separated due to stripping of the threads out of the governor housing and that the fitting was incorrect for the application. The airplane had experienced a forced landing 13 days prior to the accident due to an oil leak and loss of oil pressure due to the jam nut on the failed fitting having backed off. On that occasion, a mechanic tightened the line and the airplane was cleared for flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4696L
- Reported as
- Cessna 172G
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17254691
- Airframe hours
- 3,844
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bs Aviation, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 17, 1989 · 11 hours before
- Departed
- HRL · Harlingen, TX
- Destination
- HRL · Harlingen, TX
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
- 51
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 142 total · 45 in this make and model · 142 as pilot in command · 2 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 340° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HRL, 18 nm away