Capital City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Lansing, Michigan 48901
Saturday, April 15, 2000 7:43 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was departing from Lansing, Michigan, when he reported engine problems. The aircraft subsequently lost power to both engines. Fuel receipts were found that indicate that the aircraft was serviced with 25 gallons of jet fuel in each wing tank. No preexisting anomalies were found with regard to the aircraft or its systems. An FAA inspector interviewed the person that had fueled the aircraft and that person stated he had used a JET-A fuel truck to fuel the accident aircraft. The inspector also interviewed the safety director of the company that provided the fueling service. The safety director told the inspector that the fuel truck used to fuel the accident aircraft was found to have a small nozzle installed on one of the hoses and not the wide nozzle used on jet fueling trucks. He also said that, '...the small nozzle was used for the purpose of fueling tugs at the airport and that the small nozzles were immediately removed from all jet refueling trucks so that this could not happen again.'

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to improper fuel. Also causal was the improper aircraft service by the fixed base operator personnel and the unsuitable terrain for the forced landing encountered by the pilot. Factors were the improper grade of fuel and the lack of suitable terrain for the landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/15/2000
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 743
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City LANSING
Event State MICHIGAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 48901
Event Date Year 2000
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport CAPITAL CITY AIRPORT
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LAN
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 861
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 742 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID LAN
Elevation of weather observation facility 861
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 2
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3600
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 3
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 13
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 7
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) 938
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 15 2000 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 745
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Jul 2 2001 2:01PM
User who most recently changed record MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N26SA
NTSB Number CHI00LA114
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 404
Aircraft Series Identifier 404
Aircraft Serial Number 404-0225
Certified Max Gross Weight 6300
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Mar 24 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 17393
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name SUPERIOR AVIATION, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address PO BOX 190
Aircraft Owner City IRON MOUNTAIN
Aircraft Owner State MI
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 49801
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 Yes - certificate holder
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 Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code LAN
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code 78D
Destination City CARO
Destination State MI
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 14 2001 4:03AM
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 --