The PA -28 aircraft engine failed inflight and the pilot had a successful off airport landing.

Attributes
ACN	1226972
Time
Date	201412
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-28R Cherokee Arrow All Series
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Commercial
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 47 Flight Crew Total 1580 Flight Crew Type 208
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Ground Event / Encounter Object Inflight Event / Encounter Object

Narrative:

While descending in VMC conditions; I noticed a significant decrease on the oil pressure gauge; but no secondary indications. I began turning toward the nearest airport; and noticed a rapid rise in engine RPM. I declared an emergency and experienced engine failure shortly thereafter. I was able to safely land the airplane on a two lane road. At this point; I am not certain what damage the engine incurred; the only other damage observed was to the right wing fairing; which appears to have struck a mailbox on landing rollout. On previous occasions; this rental airplane had some oil on the side of the engine cowling during post flight inspection. During my preflight on this occasion; I noticed nothing out of the ordinary; but now question whether I should have scrutinized the maintenance history more closely.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The PA -28 aircraft engine failed inflight and the pilot had a successful off airport landing.

Narrative: While descending in VMC conditions; I noticed a significant decrease on the oil pressure gauge; but no secondary indications. I began turning toward the nearest airport; and noticed a rapid rise in engine RPM. I declared an emergency and experienced engine failure shortly thereafter. I was able to safely land the airplane on a two lane road. At this point; I am not certain what damage the engine incurred; the only other damage observed was to the right wing fairing; which appears to have struck a mailbox on landing rollout. On previous occasions; this rental airplane had some oil on the side of the engine cowling during post flight inspection. During my preflight on this occasion; I noticed nothing out of the ordinary; but now question whether I should have scrutinized the maintenance history more closely.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.