History of Flight
On August 30, 2017, at about 1000 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 140 airplane, N140X, sustained substantial damage during a precautionary landing on a dirt road in Empire, Nevada. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal cross-country flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from Gerlach, Nevada, about 0930 and was destined for Bishop, California.
The pilot reported that about 20-25 minutes after departure, he noticed a bad odor and observed that the engine's oil temperature gauge indicated a higher than normal temperature. To avoid a potential engine seizure in flight, he decided to perform a precautionary landing. He selected an empty dirt road with an uphill gradient. After touchdown, the airplane bounced, and a wind gust lifted the airplane to the right side of the road. When the pilot applied full power, the right main landing gear wheel contacted the edge of the road and sheared off. The airplane could not out-climb the rising terrain, causing the remainder of the right main landing gear to dig into the dirt. The airplane made a 180° turn and came to rest with the right-wing tip on the ground. During this sequence, the right-wing spar was substantially damaged.
Aircraft Information
The pilot reported purchasing the airplane in October 2014. The airplane was equipped with a Lycoming O-235-C1B engine, serial number L-8106-15, rated at 108 horsepower by the manufacturer. According to maintenance records and the cockpit recording tachometer, the engine had accumulated 302.4 total hours in service. The pilot reported that the most recent annual inspection was completed in June 2017, equating to 32 flight hours prior to the accident. The maintenance records were not provided. Federal Aviation Administration records revealed that the engine was installed in June 1981. The facility that last overhauled the engine was identified by a sticker on the engine; their records showed the overhaul was performed in June 2015, after which the customer picked up the engine without installation.
The airplane's fuel system was a gravity-fed design. Fuel flowed from 12.5-gallon metal tanks in the inboard section of each wing. The right tank was plumbed to the upper cockpit, where a fuel shutoff valve was located. From the shutoff, fuel flowed to the selector. The left tank was plumbed directly to the selector, and then fuel continued through the firewall to the gascolator and to the carburetor. The pilot reported having 20 gallons of fuel on board at the time of the accident.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The engine remained mounted to the airframe. An external visual examination revealed no evidence of catastrophic malfunctions or failures. The exhaust muffler was pushed into the firewall; it could not be determined if this occurred during the accident sequence. The throttle knob in the cockpit was manipulated to full forward and aft positions, resulting in the throttle arm moving from stop to stop on the carburetor. The upper spark plugs were removed and showed no mechanical damage; the electrodes and posts exhibited a dark coloration, consistent with normal to rich operation per the Champion Spark Plugs Check-A-Plug chart AV-27. The crankshaft was rotated by hand via the propeller; it was free and easy to rotate in both directions. "Thumb" compression was observed in proper order on all four cylinders.
The propeller, damaged in the accident, was removed and a club propeller installed. The gascolator bowl was removed; it contained blue liquid consistent with 100LL fuel. The gascolator screen was clear of debris.
The airplane was secured to a forklift and weighted down. A fuel source was attached to the left wing inlet port, and the fuel selector was positioned to the left tank. The engine was successfully started and run for over 5 minutes at various power settings from idle to about 2,000 rpm. A magneto check on left and right magnetos showed an approximate minimal rpm drop per magneto. No mechanical anomalies were noted that would have precluded normal operation.
The tailwheel appeared to be a Scott 3200 model with a bent-style steering arm converted to a larger tire size. The tailwheel could be manually rotated clockwise to the stop, but investigators were unable to rotate it completely counterclockwise. The control cables remained attached to the rudder pedals. The right control cable was catching and rubbing on a displaced fairing behind the pedals; it could not be determined if this was preexisting or a result of the accident.