Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Plain Dealing, Louisiana 71826
Saturday, March 13, 2004 10:00 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 8,500-hour pilot, initiated his climb after takeoff and the R-1340 radial engine "coughed" and lost power. The pilot stated that the engine regained power but it "was not enough to gain any altitude." Subsequently, the airplane impacted terrain and came to rest upright and a post-impact fire ensued. The reason for the loss of power was not determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/13/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1000
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City Plain Dealing
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 71826
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 333337N
Event Location Longitude 0920507W
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 953 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID LLQ
Elevation of weather observation facility 274
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
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) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 110
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) 30.31
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) 15700
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Mar 15 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 700
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jun 30 2004 12:15PM
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 N4359S
NTSB Number FTW04LA091
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire --
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Air Tractor
Aircraft Model AT-301
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3010039
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 Mar 18 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 7500
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Arkana Agricultural Flying Service Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address Route 1 Box 206A
Aircraft Owner City Bradley
Aircraft Owner State AR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 71826
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 3879 Highway 160
Operator City Bradley
Operator State AR
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 71826
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code PVT
Departure City Plain Dealing
Departure State LA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1000
Departure Time Zone CST
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 Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Apr 29 2004 6:42PM
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 --