After an ATR72 oil pressure light illuminated the crew shut the engine down; declared an emergency and proceeded to their destination. The engine oil filler cap was not closed securely allowing engine oil drain during flight.
Synopsis
After an ATR72 oil pressure light illuminated the crew shut the engine down; declared an emergency and proceeded to their destination. The engine oil filler cap was not closed securely allowing engine oil drain during flight.
Narrative
At an altitude of 14;000 FT we began to get an intermittent low oil pressure light on the left engine; but I had just experienced this indication a few weeks earlier and knew that shutting down the engine might be necessary. I pulled out my manual in case we had to shut it down. The Captain started getting the weather to the closest airports. We both concluded the weather at option 1 was better and if we did an emergency that would be the ideal airport. The intermittent light was accompanied by the oil pressure needle bouncing between the green and yellow ARCs. We concluded that we would have to shutoff down the left engine and the Captain made a PA to the passengers letting them know. We received a master warning engine oil pressure and since my book was open I gave the airplane to the Captain and accomplished the checklist per manual. After the engine was shutdown I took the airplane back and proceeded to our diversion airport. There were no other negative engine indications. We declared an emergency and got direct to the airport. We started our descent for the Runway 21 until we saw the airport and entered the left base for Runway 18 and landed with no other incidents. After we landed a Mechanic opened the engine cowling and said the oil filler cap was not properly put on and was dangling. There needs to be some serious oversight on all oil services done. This is the second time that this has happened to me.
Second reporter narrative
On flight we were in cruise at 14;000 FT when we began to get an intermittent low oil pressure light on the left engine. First Officer said he had experienced this before and that it would likely lead to an engine shutdown in a few minutes. He retrieved his AOM volume 1 and opened the book to the appropriate page. I began to look at the weather for ZZZ and ZZZ1 as these were the closer airports. Because the weather at our destination of ZZZ was on an improving trend; we decided that we would continue on to our destination. The intermittent light was accompanied by the oil pressure needle bouncing between the bottom of the green arc to the bottom of the yellow arc. Approximately 4 to 5 minutes after the low pressure light began to illuminate (during which time I made a PA to let the passengers and flight attendants know that we would likely have to shutdown and engine to avoid panic) we received a master warning for Eng Low pressure. Because First Officer had the book out; I became the flying pilot while he accomplished the checklist. After the left engine was shutdown; I asked First Officer if he was check to fly (and land) the aircraft and he responded yes. I gave the aircraft back to him and continued the rest of the flight as the non flying pilot. There were no other negative engine indications except the low oil pressure and associated AOM procedures. I declared an emergency to ATC and asked for direct to ZZZ which we were cleared to do. We began a descent shortly after engine shutdown as we were approximately 50 miles from ZZZ at that time. We tracked inbound on the LOC BC Runway 21 until we had the airport in sight; then we entered a left base for and landed on Runway 18 without incident and taxied to our gate. Cause:The Mechanic in ZZZ showed me that the oil filter cap had not been put back on and there was oil dripping from that engine.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.