Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Pleasant Hill, Missouri 64080
Saturday, May 15, 2004 17:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was on a positioning flight when it sustained substantial damage on impact with trees during a forced landing after a loss of engine power in cruise flight. The pilot reported that he had finished spraying the last field at 1715 and the left fuel gage showed 1/2 tank (14 gallons) of fuel remaining and the right tank was dry. The pilot reported the airplane consumed about 14 gallons of fuel per hour, and that he thought he had about 45-60 minutes of fuel remaining when he departed the field. The pilot reported that the engine quit while in cruise flight, and he excuted a forced landing and impacted trees at approximately 1745. The fuel system was inspected during the recovery of the airplane. The right fuel tank was dry. The left wing tank had a ruptured fuel line. The inspection revealed there was no fuel found from the fuel line to the engine driven fuel pump. No fuel was found from the engine driven fuel pump to the mixing valve/fuel control. No fuel was found in the line from the fuel control to the fuel distributor/spider.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Fuel exhaustion due to the pilot's improper fuel calculations. Contributing factors to the accident included the inaccurate fuel gage and the trees.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/15/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1745
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Pleasant Hill
Event State MISSOURI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 64080
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 383630N
Event Location Longitude 0942052W
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 1753 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 350
Weather Observation Facility ID LXT
Elevation of weather observation facility 1004
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 12
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) 19
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 130
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.17
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16688
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date May 18 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 714
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 3 2004 9:35AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Kansas City, MO FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N188SA
NTSB Number CHI04LA120
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 188B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 18800867
Certified Max Gross Weight 4000
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 30 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name 1 Low Flyer Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 24008 E. 232nd St.
Aircraft Owner City Harrisonville
Aircraft Owner State MO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 64701
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 SS6G
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Agriculture
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) Positioning
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City Liberty
Departure State MO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1700
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code LRY
Destination City Harrisonville
Destination State MO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 23 2004 12:31PM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --