NTSB Factual Report

On July 16, 2004, at 1658 Pacific daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Newell RV-6A airplane, N16TN, overran the runway and impacted a perimeter fence during a precautionary landing at the Reid Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County (RHV), San Jose, California. The airplane was registered to, and operated by, the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. The private pilot and passenger were not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the cross-country flight. The flight originated from San Luis Obispo, California, approximately one hour prior to the accident, and was destined for Hayward, California.

During a telephone interview conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge, the pilot said the airplane was in cruise flight over RHV when he noticed the oil pressure gauge was reading low and was getting lower. He monitored the oil temperature gauge and noticed it was indicating a higher than normal temperature. The pilot concluded he was losing, or had lost, engine oil, and elected to declare an emergency and conduct a precautionary landing at RHV. During landing, the pilot said he "landed long," and could not stop the airplane prior to overrunning the end of runway 31R (3,101 feet long). The airplane impacted an airport perimeter fence and came to rest upright.

The pilot reported the airplane sustained structural damage to the wings, along with damage to the nose landing gear and the propeller. He examined the engine following the accident and noticed the oil line (from the oil cooler to the engine) had a "big leak." The pilot reported the engine's previous performance was "excellent," and he did not notice any abnormal oil consumption rates. The airplane was stored in a hangar and he never noticed any oil on the hangar floor prior to the accident.

According to the pilot, the airplane accumulated a total of 598.2 hours of flight time. The last inspection of the airplane was conducted on May 13, 2004, 16.6 hours prior to the accident.

In the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB form 6120.1/2), under the section titled, "How Could This Accident Have Been Prevented", the pilot indicated that the use of aircraft certified hoses could have helped prevent the failure of the oil line. The pilot noted that amateur-built airplanes do not require the use of FAA certified parts.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's misjudgment of the airplane's distance/speed during a precautionary landing, which resulted in the airplane overrunning the runway. Contributing factors were failure of an oil line, and the fence.