Incident Overview
On October 30, 2017, at approximately 0826 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-32R-300 airplane, registration N4213F, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing on an asphalt-covered automobile racetrack about 4 miles west-northwest of Dawsonville, Georgia. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, sustained serious injuries. The aircraft was registered to Peavy LLC and operated under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR flight plan had been filed. The flight departed Gainesville, Georgia (GVL) at about 0807, destined for Gary, Indiana (GYY).
Sequence of Events
According to the pilot, while climbing through 8,000 feet mean sea level (msl) to an assigned altitude of 10,000 ft msl, he heard a sound consistent with a propeller overspeed, which lasted about 5 seconds before returning to normal. Coinciding with the sound, a low oil quantity light illuminated, and the oil pressure gauge read zero. After declaring an emergency, the pilot began a descent for an emergency landing. As the airplane descended through about 5,000 ft msl, the pilot heard a loud "pop or bang" and saw a puff of smoke emit from under the engine cowling; smoke then entered the cockpit through the cabin heat system. Around 3,500 ft msl, the pilot attempted to add power but sensed a "bad vibration" that felt as if a propeller blade had separated. At about the same time, the engine lost all power.
Seeing an asphalt-covered automobile racetrack below, the pilot selected one of the straight sections for landing. As the airplane neared the surface, a white truck moved into the path, prompting the pilot to veer left to avoid a collision. Following this maneuver, the airplane's right wing struck a dirt berm, resulting in substantial damage to the wings and fuselage.
Examination Findings
An on-site examination by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) aviation safety inspector revealed that the bottom of the fuselage was coated in oil, and the engine crankcase was fractured at the upper aft attach bolts of the number six cylinder. All three propeller blades were present, with only one blade exhibiting signs of damage: it was bent aft with no significant leading edge damage or scarring. The other two blades were free of impact damage.
The airplane was equipped with a Lycoming IO-540 series engine, a six-cylinder, air-cooled, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, normally aspirated, fuel-injected internal combustion engine. During a subsequent examination on November 16, 2017, extensive fracturing of the engine crankcase above the #6 cylinder was noted. The engine was disassembled, and the crankcase was opened. The #3 and #4 main bearings on both the left and right sides were wiped, with copper flashing and extruded bearing material. The connecting rod and crankshaft journals for the #5 cylinder showed signs consistent with thermal damage, with the bearing extruded. The connecting rod and crankshaft journals for the #6 cylinder were fragmented, although both connecting rod bolts remained in place and attached. The piston and wrist pin remained attached, with about 3 inches of the fractured connecting rod.
The airplane was equipped with an Air Wolf remote-mounted oil filter kit (P/N 0FB 10). The kit consisted of two hoses, an adapter mounted to the engine's accessory case, and an oil filter bracket mounted to the airplane's firewall. During examination, a B-nut on one of the remote-mounted oil filter lines was observed to be loose, with about 2½ threads showing. The B-nut was tightened by hand and rotated about 1¾ turns, resulting in about ½ thread showing.
Additional Information
According to the pilot, he was not an airframe or powerplant mechanic but stated that he replaced the oil filter line about a week before the accident. This was the first flight since that installation.
The closest official weather observation station was GVL, about 20 miles southeast of the accident site. At 0753, a METAR reported wind from 270° at 8 knots, visibility 10 statute miles, clear skies, temperature 36°F, dew point 28°F, and altimeter 29.96 inches of mercury.