Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250; Flight Crew Total 700; Flight Crew Type 325
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Aircraft
During a routine banner tow along the shoreline the low oil pressure indicator light came on and the engine lost oil pressure. I was cruising southbound at 500 feet AGL when the light illuminated. I promptly checked the second oil pressure gauge that also indicated oil pressure was down in the red and the oil temperature was all the way up in the read. My initial thought was that I was going to need to land at the beach. The beach was packed with people so I turned northbound to find a place to land and called ATC. At this point my engine was already running rough due to oil starvation. ATC asked if I needed to land at the beach and I told them that I'm going to ditch my banner in the ocean and try to see if I can climb up to sufficient altitude to glide the plane to the airport if the engine should quit completely. I dropped the banner and climbed slowly up to around 1500 - 1700 feet before I decided to give it a try. At this time I was approximately 3 miles southeast of the field and figured that if the engine failed before half way there I would be able return and land at the beach. The engine luckily lasted all the way to the airport but was running very rough at the end. It sounded and felt like it was going to quit on me multiple times. Safely on the ground I saw that the planes belly was completely covered in engine oil. I got it inspected by mechanics that concluded that the engine only had 2 quarts of oil left in it and the oil pressure gauge sensor had a severe leak.
A banner tow pilot experiences a loss of engine oil pressure at 500 feet AGL while towing a banner along the beach. The banner is dropped in the ocean and the pilot is able to make it 3 miles to the airport without the engine quitting.