Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Sunburg, Minnesota 56289
Friday, February 13, 2004 14:00 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane sustained substantial damage when it impacted a ditch and subsequently nosed over while landing on a gravel road. The pilot stated the purpose of the flight was to take aerial photographs of several Minnesota farms. The pilot reported that while in cruise flight he had the "sudden urge to use the bathroom" and he selected a nearby gravel road to land on. The pilot stated that during landing rollout he noticed a sign on the left side of the road. While he attempted to maneuver the airplane to avoid striking the sign, the right wheel "got sucked into the ditch which was full of snow." The airplane subsequently impacted the ditch and nosed over. The airplane was configured with extended range fuel system that increased the airplane's maximum endurance to approximately 7 hours. The accident flight was reported to be approximately 5 1/2 hours in duration.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper in-flight decision to land off-airport. A factor to the accident was the snow covered ditch.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/13/2004
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1400
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Sunburg
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 56289
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 452130N
Event Location Longitude 0951218W
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1355 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 135
Weather Observation Facility ID ILL
Elevation of weather observation facility 1127
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
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) -1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 270
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.8
Density Altitude (feet) -370
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) 16042
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Feb 13 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1754
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 Federal Aviation Administration - Minneapolis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N186AC
NTSB Number CHI04LA072
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 American Champion (ACAC)
Aircraft Model 8GCBC
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 369-94
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 12 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 3660
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Arbach Enterprises, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 318 28th Street, NW
Aircraft Owner City Watertown
Aircraft Owner State SD
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 57201
Operator is an individual? Yes
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 --
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) Business
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PVT
Departure City Castlewood
Departure State SD
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 830
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Sunburg
Destination State MN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - roll
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jun 23 2004 8:40AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
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 --