Mountainous Emergency Landing After Engine Oil Pressure Loss (N201DK)

Incident Overview and Emergency Response During the climb after takeoff, the aircraft's engine oil pressure dropped to zero while the oil temperature rose. The pilot reduced power and searched for a suitable emergency landing site in the rough mountainous terrain below. When the engine began to vibrate, the pilot secured the engine and executed an emergency landing in a field with an uneven surface. During the landing roll, the nose landing gear collapsed, causing damage to the engine firewall. ## Engine Examination Findings Examination of the engine revealed that the number 3 connecting rod bearing had failed due to oil starvation, which was followed by the failure of the number 3 connecting rod. The number 1 connecting rod bearing had also failed due to reduced lubrication. The engine contained 7 quarts of aviation-grade lubricating oil. The oil pump and internal oil distribution system were open and functioned in a normal fashion, and the correct parts were verified.