Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
South Haven Area Regional Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Covert, Michigan 49043
Friday, June 20, 2003 9:40 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The terrain was soft and rough, causing the aircraft to nose over prior to coming to a rest. The aircraft was most recently fueled with 100 gallons and consumed approximately 35 gallons/hour during flight. The pilot estimated the total flight time since refueling as 2-1/2 to 3 hours, accumulated over two or three flights. A total of 4 gallons of fuel were recovered from the aircraft after the accident. Unusable fuel was listed at 6 gallons according to the Federal Aviation Administration Type Certificate Data Sheet. No evidence of fuel contamination was present. A post-accident examination of the aircraft and engine did not reveal any pre-impact anomalies. The pilot stated that the "most probable cause [of the accident was a] lack of fuel."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the pilot to verify fuel quantity prior to the accident flight, and fuel exhaustion resulting in a loss of engine power. Contributing factors were the soft, rough, unsuitable terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/20/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 940 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Covert |
| Event State | MICHIGAN |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 49043 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422103N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0861522W |
| Event Location Airport | South Haven Area Regional |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 0D1 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 7 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 180 |
| Airport Elevation | 663 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 225 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BEH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 15 |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| 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) | 30.2 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 636 |
| 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) | 14561 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 21 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1718 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 30 2003 8:55AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA- Grand Rapids FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3659T |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA170 |
| 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-301 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 301-0329 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 6200 |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 9 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 103.1 |
| Airframe Hours | 7649.6 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robertson Crop Dusting Service Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 73574 County Road 380 |
| Aircraft Owner City | South Haven |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49090 |
| 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 | RCDG |
| 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 | 0D1 |
| Departure City | South Haven |
| Departure State | MI |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 840 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Maneuvering - aerial application |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 6 2003 8:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |