Narrative:

[My student] and I departed [in the afternoon] for a training mission in a cessna 182. A thorough pre-flight was conducted. The aircraft had 24 gallons of useable fuel on board and 8.5 quarts of oil. Approximately [one hour later]; we landed to refuel. The fuel area was blocked off for repaving; so we decided to depart and fly to another airport to refuel. After checking the gauges; we performed a short-field takeoff. We leveled off at 3;000 ft MSL and set the radios for ATIS and tower at the airport. At this time; [my student] said he thought the engine sounded funny. I agreed. I adjusted the power and mixture to see if that would make a difference. We also noticed that the oil pressure gauge had gone to zero pressure. The engine sounds became worse and I could feel vibrations; so we decided to land at [the closest airport]. [My student] was flying the aircraft and turned toward the airport. I reduced the power to hopefully reduce the damage to the engine. We were approximately 8 miles out. With the reduced power setting; I could see that we would be just short of the airport. There was a road; power lines and fence that would be obstacles to a safe landing; so I opted to land in a cornfield just short of the airport. I considered adding power to attempt to make the airport; but I was concerned that we would have a catastrophic engine failure and cause more damage. I took over the controls at approximately 500 ft MSL and set up for the precautionary landing. At approximately 200 ft MSL; I shut the engine down to prevent additional damage and fire. I also wanted to stop the propeller so it would not be damaged. We made a normal soft field landing in the cornfield with no damage to the aircraft and minimal damage to the corn crop. [My student] then notified the state police and the FAA.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C182 pilot reports a rough running engine with zero oil pressure and the decision to land in a cornfield. No damage and no injuries were reported.

Narrative: [My student] and I departed [in the afternoon] for a training mission in a Cessna 182. A thorough pre-flight was conducted. The aircraft had 24 gallons of useable fuel on board and 8.5 quarts of oil. Approximately [one hour later]; we landed to refuel. The fuel area was blocked off for repaving; so we decided to depart and fly to another airport to refuel. After checking the gauges; we performed a short-field takeoff. We leveled off at 3;000 FT MSL and set the radios for ATIS and Tower at the Airport. At this time; [my student] said he thought the engine sounded funny. I agreed. I adjusted the power and mixture to see if that would make a difference. We also noticed that the oil pressure gauge had gone to zero pressure. The engine sounds became worse and I could feel vibrations; so we decided to land at [the closest airport]. [My student] was flying the aircraft and turned toward the airport. I reduced the power to hopefully reduce the damage to the engine. We were approximately 8 miles out. With the reduced power setting; I could see that we would be just short of the airport. There was a road; power lines and fence that would be obstacles to a safe landing; so I opted to land in a cornfield just short of the airport. I considered adding power to attempt to make the airport; but I was concerned that we would have a catastrophic engine failure and cause more damage. I took over the controls at approximately 500 FT MSL and set up for the precautionary landing. At approximately 200 FT MSL; I shut the engine down to prevent additional damage and fire. I also wanted to stop the propeller so it would not be damaged. We made a normal soft field landing in the cornfield with no damage to the aircraft and minimal damage to the corn crop. [My student] then notified the State Police and the FAA.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.