Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

While flying a single engine airplane VFR at 12,500 feet MSL, the pilot noticed a drop in oil pressure and smelled burning oil. He immediately turned back toward an airport, declared an emergency, and reduced the power to idle. During the emergency descent, the pilot encountered very strong winds out of the south and maneuvered the airplane toward a golf course fairway and secured the engine by pulling the mixture to idle cut off position. The airplane touched down in a strong crosswind on the fairway and the initial rollout was under control, but the airplane rolled over a very large landscape bump (approximately 4 feet tall) in the fairway. The airplane became airborne after the bump and the left wing rose rapidly upon the second touchdown. The airplane was heading toward a small pond and the pilot applied brake pressure, but the large tundra tires were sliding on the wet grass. The pilot decided to intentionally ground loop the airplane to avoid sliding into the pond. The right wing contacted the ground causing substantial damage to the wing. The airplane came to rest near the edge of the pond and the pilot and passenger exited through the pilot side door with no injuries. After the accident the airplane was examined and a standard fitting on the accessory section of the engine which leads to the oil pressure transducer was found sheared completely, which would have caused an instantaneous and complete loss of oil pressure and a loss of most of the engine oil in flight. There was no collateral damage or evidence in or around the AN fitting to determine the reason for failure. The failure of an oil line leading to the oil pressure transducer which resulted in oil starvation and subsequent loss of engine power.