N6590M

On September 9, 1996, at 0945 central daylight time, a Cessna 182P, N6590M, operated by a private pilot collided with the terrain and runway lights while making a forced landing at the St. Louis Downtown Parks Airport, Cahokia, Illinois. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was being conducted in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan. The airplane was substantially damaged and the pilot was not injured. The flight originated from the St. Louis Downtown Parks Airport just prior to the accident.

The pilot stated that his intended destination was Brookfield, Wisconsin. Shortly after takeoff on runway 30L at an altitude of 400 to 500 feet agl, the windscreen became covered with oil. The pilot contacted the control tower and explained the situation. The control tower cleared the pilot to land on any runway. The pilot stated he left on the 20 degrees of flaps he used for takeoff and elected to land on runway 04. The pilot stated he chose this runway because it was the closest and he was "anxious" to land. He stated that in order to avoid flying over nearby houses he made tight turns to keep the airplane over the airport. The pilot reported that the airplane contacted the "ground left of runway 4 where it rises to the runway, bounced off the uphill slope, contacted the runway to the right side bounced just airborne and hit lights on right side of runway... ." The pilot was able to get the airplane back on the runway and eventually onto a taxiway.

Once on the taxiway the pilot exited the airplane and discovered that the oil filler cap was not secured but instead was hanging by its chain. This was the first flight since having had maintenance performed on the airplane. The oil filter and oil had been changed during the maintenance. The pilot stated he checked the oil prior to the flight and remembered checking that the cap was secured. A Federal Aviation Administration Inspector inspected the filler cap after the accident. She reported that the slip which held the chain to the cap was binding and this could have resulted in the false sensation that the cap was secured when in fact it might not have been.