Cessna 140 N140X

Summary

On 30 August 2017 at about 17:00 local time, a Cessna 140 registered N140X was involved in an accident near Empire, Nevada, 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

30 August 2017 at 17:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Empire, Nevada, United States

Coordinates

40.4628, -119.3667

Aircraft

Cessna 140

Registration

N140X

Category

Airplane

Year built

1946

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gerlach → Bishop

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR17LA193

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during an off-airport precautionary landing on a dirt road with an uphill gradient.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot stated that, about 20 to 25 minutes after departure for the cross-country flight, the engine's oil temperature gauge was indicating that the oil temperature was hotter than normal. He added that, to avoid having the engine seize while in flight, he chose to perform a precautionary landing on a dirt road that had an uphill gradient. After touchdown, the airplane bounced, the right main landing gear sheared off, and the airplane turned 180° and came to rest with the right wingtip on the ground. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The engine was successfully started and run for over 5 minutes at various power settings. The tailwheel could not be manually rotated counterclockwise to the stop because the right control cable was catching and rubbing on a displaced fairing behind the pedals. It could not be determined if this had occurred before the accident and the pilot was unable to maintain directional control or was a result of the accident sequence.  

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.