- Date
- June 16, 1991, 16:15 local (23:15 UTC)
- Place
- Santa Maria, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N46795Ryan ST3KR
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910616023269A
- Case key
- 27260
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 due to the pilot's failure to properly configure the aircraft for the flight during the preflight inspection.
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
According to the pilot, while the aircraft was on the ground at Santa Maria he turned off the oil supply valve. During the preflight preparation for the to flight Santa paula he said he forgot to turn the oil supply valve back to the on position. About 20 minutes after takeoff he noticed the oil pressure was reading zero and the engine was starting to run hot. The pilot said he felt he could not safely return to the airport and elected to make a precautionary landing on a country road. During the landing roll out, a wing tip struck a fence.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N46795
- Reported as
- Ryan ST3KR
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1721
- Engine
- Kinner R56, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Sullivan, Michael D.
- Registered owner
- Sullivan, Michael D.
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- SMX · Santa Maria, CA
- Destination
- SZP · Santa Paula, CA
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
- 53
- Certificates
- Flight instructor, Flight engineer, Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 15,000 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 5,000 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.