Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Clewiston, Florida 33440
Tuesady, July 8, 1997 10:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane departed from a section of road which was about 3,000 feet long. At an altitude of about 50 feet above the ground, in a left turn to the crosswind, the pilot reported that the airplane's engine lost power, and was running rough. A forced landing was made to a sugar cane field. The pilot maneuvered the airplane and touched down in the sugar cane field, the propeller struck a railroad switching unit, crossed over an irrigation canal, struck the bank of the canal with the tail wheel, nosed over, and a postcrash fire ensued. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the post crash fire melted the accessory case of the engine, post-crash testing of the engine was not possible. The reason for the loss of engine power was not determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

a forced landing as a result of an undetermined loss of engine power and subsequent impact with a railroad switching unit and nose over.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/8/1997
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City CLEWISTON
Event State FLORIDA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 33440
Event Date Year 1997
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1053 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID PBI
Elevation of weather observation facility 19
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 47
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 23
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 140
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 406
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 8 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1415
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:25PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N82019
NTSB Number MIA97LA207
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Wsk Pzl Mielec
Aircraft Model M-18A
Aircraft Series Identifier M-18A
Aircraft Serial Number 1Z026-03
Certified Max Gross Weight 2500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Mar 1 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name LTI VEHICAL LEASING CORP
Aircraft Owner Street Address 5713 CORPRATE WAY STE 200
Aircraft Owner City WEST PALM BEACH
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 33407
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name AIR CROP CARE
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address POB 401
Operator City BELLE GLADE
Operator State FL
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 33430
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Unknown
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Unknown
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Unknown
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Aerial Application
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code X10
Departure City BELLE GLADE
Departure State FL
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --