- Date
- February 25, 1991, 12:58 local (19:58 UTC)
- Place
- Mesa, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N138WWNorth American T-28B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 30, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910225003469A
- Case key
- 27129
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
1) The failure of the airplane's engine upper crankcase oil breather line; 2) total loss of engine power caused by a lack of lubricating oil. A factor in this accident was the pilot inadvertantly stalling the aircraft to avoid a collision with a wire.
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 aircraft's engine upper crankcase oil breather line failed during cruise flight, which allowed the engine's oil to vent overboard. The lack of oil caused the engine to seize and a total loss of engine power resulted. The pilot set up a power-off approach to a road, but altered the aircraft's course due to excessive vehicular traffic on the road. He attempted to land the aircraft in an open area. On short final, the pilot saw high tension wires. To avoid colliding with the wires, the pilot pulled the nose of the aircraft up. The aircraft cleared the wires, but the airspeed slowed causing the aircraft to stall, resulting in a hard landing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N138WW
- Reported as
- North American T-28B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 138150
- Engine
- Lycoming R1820-71, 1,500 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Ferry · Part 91
- Operator
- Worldwide Aeronautical Ind,Inc
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- DMA · Tucson, AZ
- Destination
- FFZ · Mesa, AZ
- 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
- 35
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 5,500 total · 135 in this make and model · 4,600 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Observed at
- FFZ, 4 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.