Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ohiawa, Nebraska 68416
Saturday, August 17, 2002 10:05 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage when it hit a post during a forced landing to a field after a loss of engine power. The pilot reported that when he refueled the airplane prior to the accident flight, he had requested that the lineman top off the fuel tanks. He did not visually check the left fuel tank, but he had checked the right fuel tank. He reported the fuel selector was positioned on the left fuel tank during the flight. He reported the engine suddenly quit. He could not get the engine restarted and he did a forced landing to a cornfield. An inspection of the fuel tanks revealed the left fuel tank was dry and the right fuel tank was full. The pilot reported, "I came to recall that my normal starting procedure is to have the boost pump on. The engine does not start without it. Also after normal shut-off by pulling the mixture to the full lean position, the engine will not start in < 15 seconds even after priming to normal boost pump pressures and the boost pump on while cranking...This entire evolution lasted an estimated 60-90 seconds. This may not have allowed sufficient time for fuel flow to [be] re-established through completely dry fuel lines and pumps." The pilot stated the following in the NTSB Form 6120.1/2 form under Owner/Operator Safety Recommendation: "Visually check all fuel tank levels on preflight. Do Not assume flight line people followed your requests."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot failed to verify the aircraft refueling and he did not follow emergency procedures for engine restart. Factors to the accident included fuel starvation and the fence post.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/17/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1005 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | OHIAWA |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 68416 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 401804N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0964814W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| 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) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 345 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| 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 Docket Number (internal use) | 12280 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 20 2002 10:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8851V |
| NTSB Number | CHI02CA253 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Bellanca |
| Aircraft Model | BL-17-30A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30372 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | K & B LEASING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1332 ARAPAHOE AVE. |
| Aircraft Owner City | HASTINGS |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68901 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BIE |
| Departure City | BIETRICE |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 950 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HSI |
| Destination City | HASTINGS |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 3 2002 7:49AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |