Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Newellton, Louisiana 71357
Thursday, October 8, 1998 8:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The agricultural airplane, flown by the non-instrument rated commercial pilot, descended into a lake following a loss of control during an inadvertent entry into adverse weather conditions. A 'very dense' fog bank extending from the ground to 300 to 400 feet agl moved rapidly into the area. The National Weather Service reported that throughout northeastern Louisiana, the weather conditions were: winds calm to 3 knots from the north, 1/4 statute mile visibility in fog, ceiling of 100 feet, and a temperature dewpoint spread of 2 degrees Celsius. The pilot had accumulated over 20,000 hours of aerial application flying including over 4,000 hours in the accident aircraft. The aircraft was not equipped for flight into instrument meteorological conditions. No pre-impact anomalies were found with the airframe or the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during an inadvertent entry into adverse weather conditions. A related factor was the fog.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/8/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 820 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | NEWELLTON |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71357 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| 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 | 814 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 185 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | NTZ |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 272 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 20 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Partial Obscuration |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1612 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 8 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 935 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4531M |
| NTSB Number | FTW99FA004 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-401 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AT-401 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 401-0764 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 20 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | NATHAN O. KIFER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 177 |
| Aircraft Owner City | NEWELLTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 71357 |
| 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 | SFNG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 9M2 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 815 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 | Maneuvering |
| 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 | -- |