Amateur-built AVID FLYER N1445P accident near Lakeside, Oregon

Probable cause

The pilot/owner’s failure to comply with the engine manufacturer’s maintenance guidance, which resulted in the total loss of engine power due to the fracture failure of the plastic drive gear for the engine lubricating oil pump.

NTSB analysis

The pilot had owned the experimental amateur-built airplane for about 1 month and had flown it about 3 hours. Shortly after departure on a personal flight, as the airplane was climbing through an altitude of about 1,800 feet above ground level, the engine lost total power. The pilot set up for a forced landing to the top of a sand dune; however, the airplane collided with the upsloping face of the dune.

Examination of the engine revealed that the plastic drive gear for the engine lubricating oil pump had fractured into multiple fragments, which resulted in cessation of oil pump rotation, loss of oil pressure and circulation, and complete loss of engine power. Only a few traces of dried lubricant were found on the fractured plastic gears; no other lubrication was found, indicating that a long period of time had passed since any maintenance had been performed on the oil pump. Review of the maintenance records indicated that, although the engine manufacturer recommended that the engine be overhauled every 5 calendar years, the engine was most recently overhauled about 12 years before the accident. Further, the most recent maintenance entry in the engine records was dated about 3 weeks after the overhaul.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR14LA055 for the full record.