# NTSB SEA08LA193: Wasson Loehle Loehle P-40, N510JW, Oregon City, OR, August 31, 2008 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Serious injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: August 31, 2008, 12:15 local (19:15 UTC) - Place: Oregon City, OR - Coordinates: 45.312778, -122.608612 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=45.3128&lon=-122.6086&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Enroute: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341) - Highest injury: Serious injuries - Injuries: 1 serious - Status: Completed, report May 12, 2009 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: ROTAX Aircraft Engines, Federal Aviation Administration - NTSB case key (mKey): 68837 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=SEA08LA193 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/68837/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/SEA08LA193 ## Probable cause The loss of total engine power due to a cold seizure. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Engine (reciprocating): recip eng cyl section](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01058530): Aircraft › Aircraft power plant · Malfunction (probable cause); cases with it: [Wasson John LOEHLE P-40, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01058530/cases.md?model=05617Y8), [All aircraft, 373 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01058530/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Enroute: Powerplant sys/comp malf/fail](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/340); cases with it: [Wasson John LOEHLE P-40, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/340/sequence.md?model=05617Y8), [All aircraft, 820 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/340/sequence.md) - [Enroute: Loss of engine power (total)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341) (defining event); cases with it: [Wasson John LOEHLE P-40, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md?model=05617Y8), [All aircraft, 3,820 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/341/sequence.md) - [Emergency descent: Off-field or emergency landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440); cases with it: [Wasson John LOEHLE P-40, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440/sequence.md?model=05617Y8), [All aircraft, 3,365 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440/sequence.md) ## Analysis About 30 minutes into the local flight while returning to the departure airport, the airplane's engine lost power. The pilot subsequently made a successful landing in a flat farm field. The pilot said that after adding about 2-1/2 gallons of fuel and "running it at various speeds and checking my gages," he departed for the 5 minute flight back to his original departure airport. The pilot reported that on about a 1-mile final to the runway, the engine lost power again, which required him to make a second forced landing. The airplane came to rest upright in a pond with its left wing separated. A post-accident examination revealed scuffing signature marks on the piston walls, which were consistent with a cold seizure condition. The engine manufacturer's Installation Manual specifies in its Safety Information section, in part, "This engine, by its design, is subject to sudden stoppage...Never fly the aircraft equipped with this engine at locations, airspeeds, altitude, or other circumstances from which a successful no-power landing cannot be made, after sudden engine stoppage...This is not a certificated aircraft engine." ## Factual narrative On August 31, 2008, about 1215 Pacific daylight time, a Wasson Loehle P-40 experimental amateur built airplane, N510JW, was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Oregon City, Oregon. The certificated private pilot, the airplane's sole occupant, sustained serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight, which was conducted in accordance with 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, and a flight plan was not filed. The flight departed a private airstrip about 3 minutes prior to the accident, with its destination being the Aero Acres Airport (OG30), Oregon City, Oregon. In a statement submitted to the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC), the pilot reported that prior to departing OG30 earlier in the morning, he filled the airplane's gas tank with 2 1/2 gallons of aviation fuel; the tank held a little more than 5 gallons. The pilot further reported that after flying for about 30 to 40 minutes and while returning to OG30 at an altitude of about 1,200 to 1,300 feet, "..[the] engine made a 'surge' sound and quit. I could see gas in the tank, tried to restart [the engine], [but with] no luck." The pilot stated that he made a dead stick landing in a flat farm field about 2 miles from OG30. The pilot revealed that he subsequently put 2 1/2 gallons of aviation fuel in the airplane's fuel tank, started the engine, ran it at various speeds and departed the field for the 5 minute flight to OG30. The pilot reported that when he was about 700 feet [above ground level] on about a one mile final to the runway, "...the engine quit without warning. [I] maneuvered as best I could to avoid trees. Saw a beaver pond, [the] only clearing. [I] steered for it and awoke in [the] pond still strapped in my seat." The pilot reported that the left wing had separated from the fuselage during the forced landing. In a subsequent telephone conversation with the IIC, the pilot reported that he had purchased the ROTAX 582 engine as new, and that at the time of the accident it had accumulated a total of 38 hours. A postaccident examination of the airplane's engine by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airworthiness inspector revealed "scuffing" signatures on the piston walls. After reviewing pictures provided by the FAA of the "scuffing" signatures, a representative from ROTAX Aircraft Engines stated, "Yes, that looks like classic 'cold seizure,' otherwise known as '4 corner seizure.'" The ROTAX Aircraft Engines representative supplied the IIC with excerpts from the engine's INSTALLATION MANUAL, dated May 1, 1999, which states in part: WARNING: "This engine, by its design, is subject to sudden stoppage. Engine stoppage can result in forced landings, no power landings or crash landings. Such crash landings can lead to serious bodily injury or death." WARNING: "Never fly the aircraft equipped with this engine at locations, airspeeds, altitude, of other circumstances fromwhich a successful no-power landing cannot be made, after sudden engine stoppage." WARNINIG: "This is not a certificated aircraft engine. It has not received any safety or durability testing, and conforms to no aircraft standards. It is for use in experimental, uncertificated aircraft and vehicles only in which an engine failure will not compromise safety." ## Aircraft - Registration: [N510JW](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N510JW-2013-05-23), registration cancelled 2013-05-23, S/N P-40-151068888, built 2005 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Wasson Loehle Loehle P-40 - Registry model: [Wasson John LOEHLE P-40](https://openairdocs.org/model/wasson-john-loehle-p-40) (registry code 05617Y8) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Rotax SEE BOMBADIER](https://openairdocs.org/engine/rotax-see-bombadier) (registry code 55555, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane, amateur-built - Serial number: P-40-151068888 - Airframe hours: 38 - Engines: ROTAX 582 65 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Operator: John Wasson - Registered owner: John Wasson - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special) - Last inspection: Continuous airworthiness, April 12, 2008, 13 hours before - Departed: Oregon City, OR - Destination: Oregon City, OR ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 67; injuries: serious; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, unknown; last flight review March 26, 2006; seat: single; flight hours: 698 total, 38 in this make and model ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 330° at 6 knots - Visibility: 8 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 3,700 ft broken - Temperature: 57 °F, dew point 48 °F - Altimeter: 30.04 inHg - Observed at: PDX, 12 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20080831844769A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20080831844769A), Aug 31, 2008: LOEHLEP40, Oregon City, OR, Substantial damage. (-23) The pilot left aero acres airport and flew for 45 minutes when the engine quit and he landed at a farm to south of the airport. The pilot refueled the… From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.