Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Muskegon, Michigan 49440
Saturday, May 20, 2000 10:48 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
A witness and her husband watched the airplane head southbound, make a 'U-turn' and head north toward her location. The witness said she heard the engine. 'There was no engine trouble. It sounded as if it were under full power. It was not sputtering. It sounded okay.' The witness said that as the airplane crossed the street in front of her house, 'it got caught in the tree tops, and went into the woods.' The husband said that he saw the airplane 'head south, then turn west, and then north (making a U-turn) over my residence ... The plane sounded normal, but appeared to be lower in the air than in previous passes in the area.' Approximately 50 feet north of his house, the husband said, 'the bottom of the plane began brushing the tree tops. I observed and heard the plane diving through the trees before it crashed to the ground. Approximately 30 seconds later, the plane burst into flames.' According to the airplane owner, the accident airplane was one of five airplanes contracted by the State of Michigan, to spray for Gypsy moths in the area north of Muskegon, Michigan. The airplane had been flown two previous times that day. An examination of the wreckage revealed no anomalies.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain clearance from the trees. Factors relating to this accident were the low altitude and the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/20/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1048 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MUSKEGON |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49440 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| 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 | 1045 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 180 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | MKG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 628 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 7000 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 11 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 54 |
| 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) | 936 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 20 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1119 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2001 2:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N178RA |
| NTSB Number | CHI00FA139 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Wsk Pzl Mielec |
| Aircraft Model | M-18A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | M-18A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1Z015-10 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2500 |
| 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 | Mar 30 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3258 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HATFIELD SPRAYING SERVICE, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 18155 120TH AVENUE |
| Aircraft Owner City | NUNICA |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49448 |
| 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 | 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 33C |
| Departure City | NUNICA |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1025 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Jun 2 2001 4:08AM |
| 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 | -- |