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CEN24LA152

2024-04-05 · Galveston, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport GLS

Current FAA registration · N9996V

Make / Model
BELLANCA 17-30A
Year of manufacture
1971 · 53 years old at event
Engine
CONT MOTOR IO 520 SERIES (285 hp)
Seats / Engines
4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19710123
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S ADF750

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

Maintenance personnel’s failure to properly secure the oil filter adapter when replacing the oil filter adapter gasket which resulted in the filter becoming loose, resulting in the loss of engine oil, and the subsequent total loss of engine power.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported that while in cruise flight he briefly had smoke in the cockpit. The smoke dissipated and after being cleared to land, the engine quit suddenly, and the propeller stopped rotating. He alerted the tower and immediately retracted the landing gear and flaps and established best glide airspeed. When landing was assured, he lowered the landing gear, but the right main landing gear did not extend. The right wing struck a runway light and was substantially damaged.    Post-accident examination by the mechanic who worked on the airplane a few days prior to the accident revealed that the safety wire he cut while performing a gasket replacement on the oil filter adapter had not been removed and replaced. It is likely that because the cut safety wire was not replaced and secured when the filter adapter gasket was replaced, the filter became loose during engine operation which allowed for engine oil to leak out resulting in the subsequent loss of engine power due to oil starvation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • — Aircraft-Aircraft power plant-Eng oil sys (airframe furnish)-(general)-Related maintenance info
  • — Personnel issues-Task performance-Maintenance-Installation-Maintenance personnel

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_CEN24LA152.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (maintenance). All research papers