Landoll VANS RV 3-A N96LS

Summary

On 3 November 2001 at about 21:00 local time, a Landoll VANS RV 3-A registered N96LS, operated by Brendan P. Carmody, was involved in an accident near Denton, Texas, 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

3 November 2001 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Denton, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Denton Muni (DTO)

Coordinates

33.2107, -97.1300

Aircraft

Landoll VANS RV 3-A

Registration

N96LS

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Brendan P. Carmody

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Denton → Denton

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW02LA029

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure to perform a preflight inspection, which resulted in a loss of total engine power due to oil starvation. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable training for the forced landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot had spent most of the day waxing his airplane and decided to fly it once around the pattern. The engine start-up, taxi, and engine run-up "indications were normal." While climbing out at 600 feet agl, the engine lost power. The pilot attempted, unsuccessfully, to restart the engine. During a forced landing to a field, the airplane impacted small trees and vegetation. Examination of the engine revealed it was "seized" and contained no oil. No evidence of an oil leak was found. The mechanic, who had been servicing the airplane, reported to the FAA inspector that he had drained the oil from the airplane's engine, left the airplane unattended, and had not replenished the oil prior to the accident flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.