Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
O'neill, Nebraska 68763
Sunday, December 9, 2001 16:45 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing on a narrow road following a loss of engine power. The pilot was attempting to land on a gravel road when the airplane went into a ditch. The pilot said that the engine began running rough and he switched tanks. He said that switching tanks, "...resulted in further trouble with engine performance." He said that he selected a road to land on and was landing to the south. He said that the landing was hard and the left main wheel, "...caught the edge of the roadside resulting in the plane being pulled down into the left ditch and over onto its nose." A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed only unusable fuel within the tanks. No other anomalies were found with respect to the airplane or its systems that could be associated with a pre-impact condition.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The inadequate preflight planning by the pilot resulting in the exhaustion of the fuel supply, and the pilot not maintaining directional control during the forced landing. A factor was the unsuitable landing area selected by the pilot, and the ditch.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/9/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1645 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | O'Neill |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68763 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| 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 | 1730 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ONL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2031 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.8 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 11988 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 9 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2051 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 15 2002 12:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lincoln, Nebraska |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2492K |
| NTSB Number | CHI02LA048 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-38-112 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 38-79A0665 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1670 |
| 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 | Mar 1 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 65 |
| Airframe Hours | 4966 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Benjamin I. Lucas |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8605 Polk St. NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | Blaine |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55434 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Christopher W. Olson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 322 Elm Creek Rd. |
| Operator City | Champlin |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 55316 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | MIC |
| Departure City | MINNEAPOLIS |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ONL |
| Destination City | O NEILL |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 20 2002 8:11AM |
| 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 | -- |