The pilot reported that while in cruise flight he briefly had smoke in the cockpit. The smoke dissipated and, after being cleared to land, the Bellanca 17-30A’s engine quit suddenly, and the propeller stopped rotating.
He alerted the tower at the airport in Galveston, Texas, and immediately retracted the landing gear and flaps and established best glide airspeed. When landing was assured, he lowered the landing gear, but the right main landing gear did not extend. The right wing struck a runway light and was substantially damaged.
Post-accident examination by the mechanic who worked on the airplane a few days prior to the accident revealed that the safety wire he cut while performing a gasket replacement on the oil filter adapter had not been removed and replaced.
It is likely that because the cut safety wire was not replaced and secured when the filter adapter gasket was replaced, the filter became loose during engine operation, which allowed for engine oil to leak out, resulting in the subsequent loss of engine power due to oil starvation.
Probable Cause: Maintenance personnel’s failure to properly secure the oil filter adapter when replacing the oil filter adapter gasket which resulted in the filter becoming loose, resulting in the loss of engine oil, and the subsequent total loss of engine power.
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This April 2024 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.
GEEEZZZZZZ!!! Sure hope the A/P has some liability insurance, that Bellanca won’t be cheap to replace!
Engine threw the connecting rod through the case which in turn knock the left mag off.
The photo shows a magneto detached and moved to the side near a cylinder. Remnants of its red gasket are visible around the magneto’s mounting surface.
Directly ahead of the magneto mount is a round hole in the crankcase, with a tapped lug showing.
What are we seeing?
Not much more the pilot could have done about that. Too bad he didn’t believe the gauge a bit earlier, as he could have traded time for altitude, but I suspect many of us would have chalked the low reading to a gauge that needed to be coaxed and probably the results would be very similar.
All in all, the pilot did very well. I wonder about how the A&P feels about the crash; he did admit to error, and his explanation seems to convey regret and contrition. I’d bet he’d do much to be able to reclaim that event – I know I would.
What does the missing safety wire have to do with the landing gear that didn’t extend?
The missing safety wire started the chain of events leading up to the crash. The smoke in the cockpit was caused by the leak due to the missing safety wire and loose bolts. The smoke disappeared because the oil was empty.
Because the pilot was focused on landing the plane and clearing that fence, he waited to extend the gear manually until clearing the fence. Sometimes flying comes down to a few inches of height, or a few more ounces of fuel.
Well dang! Didn’t know THAT’S where they put those oil filters. (See pic.)