- Date
- September 5, 1998, 11:19 local (15:19 UTC)
- Place
- Covington, GA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Unknown
- Aircraft
- N2679VCessna 177RG
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 30, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980905022719A
- Case key
- 43907
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
slippage of the No. 3 connecting rod bearing resulting in blockage of the oil port, oil starvation, and subsequent connecting rod failure. A factor was the fence.
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 reported that about 10 minutes after takeoff he experienced a loss of indicated engine oil pressure. The engine began to run rough and seized about two miles short of his divert airport. The pilot initiated an emergency landing in a grass field and during the landing rollout, the airplane collided with a fence. Subsequent examination of the engine revealed the No. 3 connecting rod bearing had become unsecured and rotated about its installed location ultimately blocking its lubrication port. The No. 3 connecting rod failed and a hole was observed in the crankcase adjacent to the No. one cylinder.
Factual narrative
On September 5, 1998, about 1119 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 177RG, N2679V, registered to Mile High Aviators, LLC., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed in a field during a forced landing following an engine failure, near Covington Municipal Airport, Covington, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane received substantial damage and the private-rated pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. The flight originated from Atlanta about 1101 the same day.
According to the pilot, about 10 minutes after takeoff, just after activating his flight plan to St. Simons Island, Georgia, with Atlanta Approach Control, he experienced a loss of indicated engine oil pressure. The pilot was being vectored to the Covington airport when the engine started to run rough and seized about 2 miles short of the airport. The pilot felt his only option was to execute an emergency landing to a grass field. The airplane collided with a fence on landing rollout.
Postcrash examination of the engine by an FAA inspector revealed a large hole in the crankcase next to the No. 1 cylinder, and chunks of metal on top of the heater muff hose. Subsequent disassembly examination of the engine revealed that the No. 3 connecting rod bearing had become unsecured and spun about its installed location, plugging its lubrication oil source, and causing failure of the No. 3 connecting rod. Large chunks of metal within the crankcase and oil system caused subsequent blockage and additional internal failure. (See the Record of Telephone Conversation).
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2679V
- Reported as
- Cessna 177RG
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 177RG0653
- Airframe hours
- 7,889
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Mile High Aviators LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 3, 1998 · 65 hours before
- Departed
- PDK · Atlanta, GA
- Destination
- SSI · St. Simons Isl, GA
- 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
- 38
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 160 total · 65 in this make and model · 100 as pilot in command · 40 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ATL, 33 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.