Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Westside, Iowa 51467
Friday, August 22, 2003 18:25 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a complete loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot reported completing a final agricultural application pass when the engine abruptly lost power. He noted: "There was no place to land, I hit the fuel boost pump and the [aircraft] powered up again for 1 or 2 seconds." This allowed the pilot to clear a farm house and set-up for a forced landing in an alfalfa field. The aircraft subsequently impacted an "up sloping draw ... a terrace and went into a steep gully," according to the pilot. A post-accident examination found no evidence of fuel on-board. Both fuel tanks were empty and there was no sign of fuel on the ground in the vicinity of the aircraft. The pilot reported no malfunctions with the aircraft prior to the loss of engine power. No anomalies associated with a pre-impact failure were observed during the post-accident inspection. The pilot reportedly had a standing request with the fixed base operator that the aircraft be filled to the 3/4 tabs each time it was fueled. He stated that the fuel gauges "have been very undependable this summer," so after each refueling he would enter 162 gallons into the fuel flow meter. Due to his lack of confidence in the fuel gauges, the pilot was using the fuel flow meter to monitor his in-flight fuel status. The pilot stated that he did not visually verify the fuel quantity after refueling prior to the accident flight.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning/preparation which led to fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of engine power. Contributing factors were the unsuitable terrain encountered, and the terrace/embankment.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/22/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1825 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Westside |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 51467 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 420255N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0950548W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1385 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1835 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 90 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CIN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1203 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 100 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 14866 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 25 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1122 |
| 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 | FAA -- Des Moined FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5007G |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA289 |
| 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-502B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 502B-0417 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8000 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 2267 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Westerlin Harrington Flying Service Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P. O. Box 350 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Holdrege |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 68949 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | WESTERLIN AND HARRINGTON FLYING SER |
| 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 | PSKG |
| 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 | CIN |
| Departure City | Carroll |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1620 |
| 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 | Maneuvering - aerial application |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 31 2003 3:21PM |
| 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 | -- |