Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Munster, Indiana 46321
Sunday, June 17, 2001 14:00 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On the previous flight, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power during cruise flight. The airplane was successfully forced landed in the soybean field by another pilot. The owner/accident pilot said that when he arrived at the field, he and one of his line service employees removed the airplane's cowling and "examined [the] control cables, etc." They checked the fuel at both of the fuel tank drains and the main sump. They also did a visual check of the fuel in the tanks. They started the engine with the cowling off and did an engine run up. The owner/pilot shut the engine down, replaced the cowling, restarted the engine, and taxied the airplane to the east edge of the field. The owner/pilot said, "I proceeded to do another run up with mags checking good. I lowered flaps to 20 degrees and started a take off roll to the west." He said that the ground roll and climb out seemed normal and the engine sounded okay. The owner/pilot said that at about 50 to 75 feet above the ground the engine quit. "I pumped the throttle a few times to no avail. With an 8 foot [high] cyclone fence ahead of me, I decided to turn 90 degrees to the left." The owner/pilot said that about the same time the airplane was "making ground contact nose heavy and flipped over on the aircraft's back." The owner/pilot said that he suspected water contamination. He said that they had this problem before with this airplane. The airplane had been tied outside for a couple of weeks, and that they had experienced some heavy rain during that time. An examination of the airplane revealed water in the fuel.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Engine failure during takeoff due to water contaminating the fuel, the pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation, and the low altitude. Factors relating to this accident were the attempted emergency landing after takeoff and the fence.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/17/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City MUNSTER
Event State INDIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 46321
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 6
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 1350 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 5
Weather Observation Facility ID GYY
Elevation of weather observation facility 592
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 3
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 28
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.19
Density Altitude (feet) 1940
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 11020
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 17 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2229
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Nov 27 2001 11:26AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office SOUTH BEND, INDIANA FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6557G
NTSB Number CHI01LA170
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 150L
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 72057
Certified Max Gross Weight 1600
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 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 22 2000 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 33
Airframe Hours 5029.8
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ASSOCIATED AIR ACTIVITIES, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address BOX 158
Aircraft Owner City LANSING
Aircraft Owner State IL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 60438
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City MUNSTER
Departure State IN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code IGQ
Destination City LANSING
Destination State IL
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Nov 1 2001 8:44AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --