Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Safford, Arizona 85546
Tuesady, March 16, 2004 9:35 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The engine lost power while the pilot was turning the airplane onto the base leg of a simulated fire retardant drop pattern. Thereafter, the airplane stalled and collided with the ground while in an uncontrolled descent. The accident occurred during a public-use firefighting training flight supervised by the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). During the flight the pilot was practicing dropping fire retardant in a designated area on a simulated wildland fire. A witness reported hearing the engine surge several times, after which the airplane's bank increased and it descended. The airplane impacted the ground in a near-vertical, nose-down pitch attitude. The airframe and engine were examined and no evidence of any preimpact mechanical malfunction was found. The airplane was dispatched with adequate fuel for the planned flight. In the airplane's flight manual, the manufacturer provided guidance regarding equalizing unbalanced wing tank fuel quantity levels to avoid fuel starvation from unequal consumption of fuel in the tanks. During the accident investigation, no fuel was found in either the left wing or header tanks, which had retained their integrity. The right wing tank was found ruptured. The pilot operated valve that allows fuel to flow between the main fuel tanks to equalize the amount of fuel in each tank was found in the closed position. The airplane was not equipped with optional low-fuel warning lights in the cockpit. In addition, the examination determined that the AW-2-30 propeller certificated for the airplane had been replaced with the larger, unapproved AW-2 propeller and that the airplane’s propeller logbook did not reflect this change.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation and at least one ensuing engine power surge, which caused the airplane to pitch up abruptly into a stall at an altitude too low for recovery. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's mismanagement of the fuel supply, his failure to adhere to prescribed flight manual procedures for equalizing the fuel quantity distribution between the fuel tanks, and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed after the power loss.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/16/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 935 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Safford |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85546 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 325200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 109240ww |
| 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 | 850 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 255 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SAD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3177 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 12 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | KSAD 161550Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 14/01 A3014 |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19015 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 16 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1020 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 31 2006 7:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO Scottsdale, Arizona |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6259N |
| NTSB Number | LAX04TA161 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Public Use |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | WSK PZL Mielec |
| Aircraft Model | M-18A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1Z026-05 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11700 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 1472 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | A-S Ranch, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 134 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Fort Benton |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59442 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | U.S. Dept. of Interior, Bureau of Land Management |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2350 W. Robinson Road |
| Operator City | Boise |
| Operator State | ID |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 80522 |
| 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) | Public Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | SAD |
| Departure City | Safford Regl |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 915 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | SAD |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 3 2005 1:22PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |