Flight CTSW N378CT

Summary

On 22 April 2021 at about 16:04 local time, a Flight CTSW registered N378CT was involved in an accident near Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. 2 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 April 2021 at 16:04

Classification

Accident

Location

Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States

Coordinates

35.5170, -106.1820

Aircraft

Flight CTSW

Registration

N378CT

Category

Airplane

Year built

2006

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Fe → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR21LA173

1 person had minor injuries.

A leak in the oil line that supplied the engine with oil, which resulted in oil exhaustion and the total loss of engine power. Contributing to the accident was the routing of the oil line to close to the exhaust manifold. 

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

On an instructional flight, a flight instructor and the pilot receiving instruction practiced touchandgo landing maneuvers and were en route back to their destination. The pilot noticed the oil pressure had decreased and positioned the airplane to fly over a suitable landing environment. However, the oil pressure continued to decrease and when the pressure reached about 4 psi, the engine abruptly stopped. Subsequently, the flight instructor made a forced landing on a dirt field. During the ground roll, the nose wheel struck a rock and the airplane nosed over. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed a leak in the oil line supplying oil to the engine. The leak in the oil line likely led to the loss of oil during flight and resulted in the abrupt loss of engine power. The damage to the oil line was consistent with heat damage, which was likely a result of it having been routed too close to the exhaust manifold.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.