Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Red Wing Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Red Wing, Minnesota 55066
Thursday, July 24, 2003 11:10 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage on impact with a localizer antenna and terrain during a forced landing following an in-flight loss of engine power on initial climb. An examination of the wreckage revealed that the fuel selector valve handle was set to the right fuel tank. The right fuel tank was empty. The left fuel tank contained about five gallons of fuel. There was no sign of a fuel spill at the scene. The engine produced a thumb compression at all cylinders. Both magnetos sparked. Removed spark plugs exhibited a light gray color. The engine was not test run. The student pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions during the flight. A checklist from the airplane stated, "BEFORE TAKE OFF ... Fuel Selector Valve Handle - BOTH."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow the checklist resulting in fuel starvation and subsequent loss of engine power.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/24/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1110 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Red Wing |
| Event State | MINNESOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 55066 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 443522N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0922906W |
| Event Location Airport | RED WING MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | RGK |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 780 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1115 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RGK |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 780 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.07 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KRGK 241536Z AUTO 19008KT 10SM CLR 23/13 A3007 RMK |
| 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) | 14843 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 24 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1235 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 8:07AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Minneapolis, MN, FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8226L |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA223 |
| 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 | In-flight |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172H |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17256426 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2400 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 157 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael R. Hoeft |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 30019 Ludlow Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Frontenac |
| Aircraft Owner State | MN |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 55026 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | RGK |
| Departure City | Red Wing |
| Departure State | MN |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | RGK |
| Destination City | Red Wing |
| Destination State | MN |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2003 4:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 9 |
| Runway Length | 5010 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |