This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.
During cruise at 10,500 MSL in a Cirrus SR22, while on VFR flight following, I experienced oil pressure gauge to register 0 psi. I immediately informed ATC of this and ran the appropriate checklist.
With the help of ATC I located a suitable airport 10 miles to my rear. I informed ATC of souls on board, call sign, and personal phone number.
Using VFR flight following was extremely helpful in finding an airstrip that was close enough and with a suitable surface.
Before I reached the airstrip the oil pressure gauge did return to normal.
I believe the zero indication only lasted a few seconds. But out of an abundance of caution and for safety I elected to land immediately and make any other decisions while on the ground.
I switched to CTAF frequency and made normal radio calls while I was in the pattern. Landing and roll out was uneventful.
A local A&P did remove the cowling of my aircraft and did not notice any anomalies or oil leaks of any type. There was absolutely zero damage on the aircraft. He inspected the engine and did several high power run-ups and several high speed taxi tests. All the tests returned normal results. He created a log book entry for the aircraft logs.
I took off and flew with no other problems or unusual indications on the engine instruments.
What I learned is simulator training with critical situations would be beneficial.
Losing oil pressure is something I have never experienced and it was very stressful.
I believe I handled this situation in the best possible way at my experience level. But there is always room for improvement. I plan to take my IFR check ride next month and I believe training with a CFII every few months is the best route to further my knowledge.
I will be putting even more emphasis on critical situations in all of my training going forward.
Primary Problem: Ambiguous
ACN: 2186128
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I owned an SR22T. After flying it new from Minnesota to Nevada I saw the same thing happen, oil pressure went to near zero. The problem is how the oil pressure sender is attached to the engine (Cirrus has a factory change to aircraft built before 2020) where vibration can make it fail or become inconsistent. The fix is to mount the sender on a rubber hose off of the engine. If your Cirrus is in this boat, take it to an A&P and have it fixed.