Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Anthon, Iowa 51004
Wednesday, July 15, 1998 1:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
During an interview, the pilot stated that his time enroute to Ellen Church Field was 2-1/2 hours. Upon arrival, he visually checked the fuel level in each wing tank and stated that it was 'just below the tabs'. He did not obtain any additional fuel. The pilot reported that his cruise altitude on return to Columbus Municipal Airport was 3500' msl, the power was set to 2300 rpm and the mixture contol was retarded 1/4'. The pilot reported that the progression of his check points on return to Columbus Municipal Airport was as scheduled for approximately the first two hours, after which the flight progressed slower than planned and that the fuel gauges were now indicating 1/4 fuel in each tank. Moonlight was visible from the left side of the aircraft and lightening was visible from the right side. He also stated that he selected the right fuel tank to restart the engine since the left tank was empty and the engine stopped running. With 1/4 fuel remaining in the right tank, the pilot stated that he had only twelve minutes of fuel remaining, so he decided to look for a landing area. With thunderstorms between his location and Sioux Gateway Airport, near Sioux City, Iowa, he searched the area and decided to land on a black top road. He impacted a pole and did not want initiate a climb because he was unsure as to the condition of his flight controls. Inspection of the airplane by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors revealed that all the fuel sump valves and the fuel caps were in the closed position. Fuel was observed to be present in the left tank. The fuel selector was selected to the left tank. The FAA also confirmed that the pilot had been briefed on convective activity for his route of flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot-in-command's improper preflight planning, preparation and fuel management resulting in an unscheduled landing and impact with a pole.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/15/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 130 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | ANTHON |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 51004 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 138 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 75 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SUX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1095 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Dark |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 87 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 14 |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 907 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 15 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 520 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1473X |
| NTSB Number | CHI98LA252 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA28-151 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA28-151 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28-7515404 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2325 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 3 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 14 |
| Airframe Hours | 7246 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AVCRAFT |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2851 14TH AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | COLUMBUS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68601 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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 | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Business |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CJJ |
| Departure City | CRESCO |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1150 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OLU |
| Destination City | COLUMBUS |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| 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 | -- |