Cessna 172XP N1530V

Summary

On 13 March 1990 at about 20:20 local time, a Cessna 172XP registered N1530V, operated by Mark/Lavinia Besolo, was involved in an accident near Hurricane, Utah, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

13 March 1990 at 20:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Hurricane, Utah, United States

Coordinates

37.0393, -113.2109

Aircraft

Cessna 172XP

Registration

N1530V

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Mark/Lavinia Besolo

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gunnison → Las Vegas

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN90LA091

Nobody was injured.

THE ENGINE OIL LEAK INDUCED CONNECTING ROD FAILURE AND SUBSEQUENT TOTAL POWER LOSS.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

THE PRIVATE PILOT WAS REPOSITIONING THE AIRPLANE TO ITS NEW OWNERS. DURING CRUISE, HE NOTICED A LOSS OF OIL PRESSURE. 5 MINUTES LATER, THE ENGINE QUIT AND THE PILOT SELECTED A ROUGH FIELD AND MADE A FORCED LANDING. DURING LANDING ROLL, THE LEFT WING AND STABILIZER STRUCK A TREE. A POSTACCIDENT ENGINE TEARDOWN REVEALED AN OIL LEAK IN THE AREA OF THE OIL FILTER MOUNT AND THE ENGINE OIL LEVEL DEPLETED TO TWO QUARTS. THE NUMBER 5 AND 6 ROD BEARINGS SHOWED EVIDENCE OF LOSS OF LUBRICATION, OVERHEATING, AND ULTIMATE FAILURE. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT HE ADDED TWO QUARTS AT A PREVIOUS STOP, BUT THE INVESTIGATION WAS UNABLE TO VERIFY THE REPORTED ADDITION OF OIL.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.