Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Carrol, Iowa 51401
Sunday, November 22, 1998 15:30 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said he added 5-gallons of auto fuel to the left and right wing tanks before departure. He said he didn't visually check the fuel, but felt it with his finger in each fuel tank. While enroute to the destination airport, the engine stopped operating when the airplane was about 8-minutes north of the airport, according to the pilot. The pilot said he landed the airplane on a down-sloped field. As the airplane approached the end of the field the pilot said he applied elevator back-pressure to get the airplane to jump the ditches at its end. The airplane landed on a gravel road and bounced onto a plowed field, nosing over. The on-scene investigation revealed empty fuel tanks. The right wing had a colored stain similar to fuel that started at the fuel filler neck and went aft to the trailing edge. There was no colored stain near the left wing's fuel filler neck.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's inadequate preflight inpection of the fuel tanks and filler neck caps before departure. Factors associated with this accident were the leaking right wing fuel tank filler cap and fuel exhaution.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/22/1998
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1530
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City CARROL
Event State IOWA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 51401
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 11
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 Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1430 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 360
Weather Observation Facility ID CIN
Elevation of weather observation facility 845
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 5
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Unknown
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) 17
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 16
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
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) 1415
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Nov 23 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 927
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2001 1:55PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N92585
NTSB Number CHI99LA034
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 PA-12
Aircraft Series Identifier PA-12
Aircraft Serial Number 12-115
Certified Max Gross Weight 1500
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 15 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 35
Airframe Hours 3912
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name PA-12, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 901 RANDALL RD.
Aircraft Owner City LAWRENCE
Aircraft Owner State KS
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 66049
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board Unknown
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code D39
Departure City SAUK CENTER
Departure State MN
Departure Country
Departure Time 1240
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Feb 23 2001 1:55PM
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 --