Cessna 152 N65579

Summary

On 8 March 2005 at about 03:00 local time, a Cessna 152 registered N65579, operated by John W. Gilman, was involved in an accident near Covington, Washington, 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

8 March 2005 at 03:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Covington, Washington, United States

Coordinates

47.3089, -122.0883

Aircraft

Cessna 152

Registration

N65579

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

John W. Gilman

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Auburn → Yakima

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

SEA05LA057

Nobody was injured.

The failure of connecting rods during cruise flight resulting in a loss of engine power. Trees were a factor.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he had just dropped off a passenger and was returning to his home base. The pilot stated that after departure and climbing through 5,000 feet, he heard a noise. He continued to climb to altitude, and the noise appeared to have stopped, but he noticed that the oil temperature was increasing. The pilot enrichened the mixture and the oil pressure suddenly dropped. The pilot turned back to his departure airport, and when about eight miles from the airport, he heard a "knocking" noise, then the engine lost power. The pilot could not locate the airport, so he opted to make an off airport landing to a road. During the maneuver for landing, the right wing collided with trees, substantially damaging the outboard about five feet of wing structure. During the post-accident inspection of the engine it was found that engine oil was present on the belly of the fuselage from the nose to the tail. Approximately 20 gallons of fuel was present in the wing fuel tanks. The forward crankshaft seal was only partially seated in the nose of the engine case. The lower numbers 1 and 4 spark plugs were removed and showed signs of lead fouling. The numbers 3 and 4 primer lines were found loose at the cylinder. The numbers 1 and 3 connecting rods failed and the numbers 2 and 4 connecting rod bearing material was melted and squeezed between the rod cap and the crankshaft. The engine case halves displayed several holes. The number 2 cylinder cracked the case around the cylinder base and was attached to the engine by two studs.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.