Oil starvation leads to crash — General Aviation News

By NTSB · March 6, 2024 · 4 Comments

The pilot reported that he was hired to perform a pre-buy inspection of the Piper PA-28, then fly it to New Jersey to the new owner.

He and his friend arrived in Florida a few days before the accident and he performed the pre-buy inspection.

He noted that the cylinders had been replaced and was told by the seller that the break-in for the new cylinders was not completed.

The pilot further stated that he “knew that it was going to be a risky flight home,” but decided to proceed.

On the day of the accident, he took off and circled Melbourne Orlando International Airport (KMLB) several times and climbed the airplane to 7,000 feet mean sea level.

He stated that everything looked and ran well, so he decided to proceed to New Jersey.

About 20 miles northwest of KMLB, he noticed that the engine was running rough and the oil pressure was low.

He notified air traffic control and turned back to KMLB.

The roughness increased and the engine started vibrating, so he reduced the power to 1,500 rpm. The engine continued to run rough, so he shut the engine down and thought he could glide to Runway 9R at KMLB.

Once he realized that the airplane would not make the runway, he maneuvered for landing in a parking lot. The pilot, who was injured in the crash, could not recall much after that point, but thought that the airplane may have collided with a telephone pole.

According to an FAA inspector, the airplane hit telephone wires and came to rest inverted in a parking lot. Both wings sustained substantial damage.

Examination of the engine revealed that the crankshaft would rotate approximately 90° before it came to a hard stop with a metal “clunk” sound.

Cylinder Nos. 2 and 3 were removed for an internal examination of the engine, which revealed fractured connecting rods on each cylinder. The No. 2 connecting rod was found fractured with its bottom cap heavily damaged and flat in shape, laying below the engine crankshaft along with its corresponding bearings.

The No. 3 connecting rod was found fractured similar to the No. 2, but both the connecting rod end and crankshaft journal exhibited a dark color, and remnants of its bearing were dark and smeared on the connecting rod end and cap.

The No. 3 crankshaft journal was found pitted and displayed coloration consistent with presence of corrosion and smeared bearing material.

Probable Cause: A loss of engine power due to oil starvation as a result of the failure of the No. 3 crankshaft journal bearing.

NTSB Identification: 104857

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This March 2022 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.