Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
South Shore, South Dakota 57263
Thursday, September 4, 2003 15:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted soft terrain during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The pilot reported he filled the aircraft with fuel at a private airstrip just prior to takeoff. Approximately 15 minutes after departure the engine lost power. The pilot stated he pumped the throttle, and checked the fuel valve and magnetos, but was unable to get the engine restarted. The pilot stated the airplane impacted soft terrain during the forced landing. The airplane was fueled using above ground fuel tanks at the private airstrip, which is also used by an aerial application operator. There were no reports of problems with other airplanes that had been refueled using the same source. Inspection of the airplane and its engine failed to reveal any failure/malfunction that would have resulted in the loss of engine power. Fuel was added to the header tank. The engine was started and it ran up to 1,500 rpm prior to the mechanic shutting down the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A factor was the soft terrain encountered during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/4/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | South Shore |
| Event State | SOUTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 57263 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 451010N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0960301W |
| 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 | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 240 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ATY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1748 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 18 |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| 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) | 30.15 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16012 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 4 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1827 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 1 2004 7:08AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Rapid City, SD |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N38435 |
| NTSB Number | CHI03LA299 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | J3C-65 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 7004 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1220 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dakota Air Spray |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 648 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Huron |
| Aircraft Owner State | SD |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 57350 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Christian T. Reimche |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 21573 330th Street SW |
| Operator City | Crookston |
| Operator State | MN |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 56716 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PVT |
| Departure City | Summit |
| Departure State | SD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1515 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 1D1 |
| Destination City | Milbank |
| Destination State | SD |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - roll |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 13 2004 8:01AM |
| User who most recently changed record | SULP |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |