Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lacompte, Louisiana 71346
Friday, September 13, 2002 12:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 10,150-hour pilot reported that "while making a spray run to the east, [he] pulled up at the end of the field over a tree line at about a 50 to 60 degree climb angle when the engine completely powered down or quit without any warning." The pilot further reported he estimated his altitude to be 60 to 80 feet above the ground when the engine lost power so he immediately banked the airplane to the right in an attempt to land in an adjacent small pasture. Ground scars and evaluation of the damage sustained by the airplane were consistent with the airplane impacting the ground in a shallow right turn at a high rate of descent. Fuel was found in fuel system and there was no post-impact fire. The operator reported that the loss of engine power may have been caused by "fuel cavitations;" however, the reason for the reported loss of engine power could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power for undetermined reason. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain available to the pilot for the forced landing, and low altitude maneuvering.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/13/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lacompte |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 71346 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| 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 | 1153 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 320 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AEX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 89 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 34 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.85 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 2429 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15481 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 13 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1545 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 3 2004 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8843S |
| NTSB Number | FTW02LA258 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-302 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 302-0213 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7300 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 25 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 7888.2 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | M & J Equipment Company LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1320 Levi Gremillion Lane |
| Aircraft Owner City | Plaucheville |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 71362 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | M & J Flying Service LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | L1JG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Plaucheville |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | UTC |
| 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 | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 25 2004 5:14PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| 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 | -- |