CHI85LA178

Factual narrative

THE PLT WAS FLYING THE ACFT BACK TO THE HOME ARPT FOLLOWING AN ANNUAL INSPECTION WHEN HE NOTICED THE OIL PRESSURE WAS FALLING TO ZERO. APRX 3 MIN LATER, THE ENG SEIZED. SUBSEQUENTLY, AN EMERG GEAR-UP LANDING WAS MADE IN A FARM FIELD. AN EXAM REVEALED THE OIL PRESSURE LINE HAD FRACTURED AT THE FLARED END WHERE IT WAS CONNECTED TO A 90 DEG FITTING ON THE CRANKCASE. A METALLURGICAL EXAM REVEALED THE BREAK OCCURRED FROM OVERLOAD. AN INSPN OF THE ACFT ALSO REVEALED OTHER DISCREPANCIES. WIRES FROM THE OVER VOLTAGE RELAY'S FLD TERMINAL & THE ALTENATOR FLD TERMINAL WERE MIS-ROUTED WHICH ALLOWED THE REGULATOR TO BE UNREGULATED. ALSO, AN ALLIGATOR CLIP WAS FOUND CONNECTED TO THE WIRING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12