Livingston Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Livingston, Texas 77351
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 18:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The single-engine airplane experienced a loss of engine power, and the pilot executed a forced landing to a grassy field. According to the 175-hour private pilot, after takeoff he climbed to approximately 1,000 feet agl and flew in the local area for about 50 minutes. After making several circles around the airport, the engine started to run "rough." The pilot applied carburetor heat and maneuvered the airplane to set up for a forced landing into a field. He reported that the engine "appeared" to be starved from gas, and as he cycled the throttle, the engine would "restart." After several attempts to maintain engine RPM, the engine "quit." Subsequently, the pilot landed the airplane in a grassy field located across from the airport. During the roll-out, the front tire struck a small ditch, nosed-over, and came to rest inverted. An examination of both wing fuel caps revealed that their respective vents were "painted over," and when low pressure air was introduced to the left wing fuel vent, the vent appeared to be blocked. Higher pressure air was applied to the vent, and a "pop" was heard, as if the vent had "cleared" debris when the air was applied. According to entries in the airplane's maintenance logbooks, the last annual inspection was completed on March 15, 2003. Additional entries showed that the airplane had flown a total of approximately 1.4 hours (including the 50 minutes of the accident flight) since the annual inspection.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to the blockage of the fuel system vents, resulting in fuel starvation. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/28/2004
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1800
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Livingston
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 77351
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 304105N
Event Location Longitude 0950102W
Event Location Airport Livingston Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 00R
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0.25
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 151
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1753 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 46
Weather Observation Facility ID CXO
Elevation of weather observation facility 245
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 28
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 5500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
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) 23
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 150
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.06
Density Altitude (feet) 1007
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) 15897
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Apr 28 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1823
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 29 2004 7:30AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Houston Flight Standards District Office

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N493RA
NTSB Number FTW04LA121
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 Cessna
Aircraft Model 150-G
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 15066987
Certified Max Gross Weight 1005
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 Apr 25 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1406
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Freddy C. Palmer
Aircraft Owner Street Address 100 Palmer Lane
Aircraft Owner City Coldspring
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 77331
Operator is an individual? No
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 00R
Departure City Livingston
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1705
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 00R
Destination City Livingston
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jun 1 2004 7:27AM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --