Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Winnsboro, Louisiana 71295
Monday, August 25, 2003 16:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 8,500-hour commercial pilot was performing aerial application on a field when the engine lost power. During the forced landing into a field, the airplane impacted several small trees before coming to rest in an upright position. The pilot reported the fuel on-board from his last takeoff earlier in the day was 60 gallons. The fuel cells were found to be empty.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate inflight planning, which resulted in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/25/2003
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1630
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Winnsboro
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 71295
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 320911N
Event Location Longitude 0914154W
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 Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 6500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 35
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.98
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) 15151
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 25 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1630
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 30 2004 8:14AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Baton Rouge, LA

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N301AF
NTSB Number FTW03LA204
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 301-0594
Certified Max Gross Weight 5000
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 May 4 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 200
Airframe Hours 6197
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Midway Farms, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 296
Aircraft Owner City Forest
Aircraft Owner State LA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 71242
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Chuck Paris
Operator Same as Owner? No
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 --
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) Aerial Application
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code F89
Departure City Winnsboro
Departure State LA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1515
Departure Time Zone CDT
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
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jan 31 2004 1:46PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --