Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Rigby, Idaho 83442
Saturday, November 23, 2002 11:49 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot reported that immediately following takeoff, the engine lost power. The pilot performed an emergency landing in an open field and during the roll out impacted a ditch, resulting in the collapse of the nose landing gear. The pilot reported that the power loss was a result of a lack of fuel in the selected tank.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's selection of a fuel tank with inadequate fuel resulting in fuel starvation and a complete power loss during the initial climb. A contributing factor was the ditch which the aircraft impacted during the forced landing resulting in the collapse of the nose landing gear.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/23/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1149
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Rigby
Event State IDAHO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83442
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 433818N
Event Location Longitude 1115542W
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 1243 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 10
Weather Observation Facility ID RXE
Elevation of weather observation facility 4858
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 2700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 400
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 4
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 160
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.91
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) 14103
NTSB Notification Source FAA SEA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Nov 23 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1310
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 30 2003 9:55AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9526U
NTSB Number SEA03LA017
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 Grumman American
Aircraft Model AA-1C
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number AAIC-0020
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 Sep 5 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 28
Airframe Hours 1695
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Hart, Eldon C. (dba Hart Enterprises, Inc.)
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Rexburg
Aircraft Owner State ID
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 83440
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
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 U56
Departure City Rigby
Departure State ID
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1145
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code RXE
Destination City Rexburg
Destination State ID
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 16 2003 12:24PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
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 --