Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Greenfield, Indiana 46140
Thursday, September 30, 1999 15:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A loss of power was experienced on both engines during the initial takeoff climb. The airplane was substantially damaged during the forced landing in a plowed corn field. Post accident inspection revealed the airplane had been refueled with 101.5 gallons of Jet A fuel instead of 100LL fuel. The FBO employee who refueled the airplane reported using a rubberized adapter to get the fuel nozzle to fit into the inlet. He reported the captain did not specify what type of fuel should be added to the airplane, only the quantity. The captain did not drain the fuel tanks during the aircraft preflight nor did he notice the smell of Jet A when he visually inspected the fuel quantity in the main fuel tanks prior to takeoff. The first officer, who signed for payment of the fuel, did not notice the type of fuel added which was noted on the Master Receipt and the invoice.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the FBO employee improperly refueled the airplane with Jet A fuel instead of 100LL and the inadequate preflight by the pilot-in-command in that he failed to drain the fuel tanks during the preflight. Factors related to the accident were the low altitude at which the loss of power took place and the rough terrain on which the forced landing was made.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/30/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1520 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | GREENFIELD |
| Event State | INDIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 46140 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | 1456 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IND |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 797 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 779 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 30 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1828 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 23 2001 9:36AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | CGHOL |
| NTSB Number | CHI99LA357 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-31 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-31 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 31-7401238 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | Foreign Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 45 |
| Airframe Hours | 4930 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ADLER AVIATION LTD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | BOX 360, HGR 32 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BRESLEAU, ONT. |
| Aircraft Owner State | CD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | |
| 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) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | MQJ |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1655 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | YKF |
| Destination City | WATERLOO, ONT. |
| Destination State | CD |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2001 3:26PM |
| 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 | -- |