Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Havre City - County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Havre, Montana 59501
Saturday, May 29, 2004 11:35 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that just after lift-off from runway 25, he verified a positive rate of climb and retracted the landing gear. Shortly thereafter, the pilot felt a slight hesitation in the engine. The pilot switched the fuel selector when the engine suddenly lost power. The pilot initiated a forced landing on the remaining runway. The aircraft touched down and the right main gear collapsed. The right wing contacted the runway surface and the aircraft spun around coming to rest near the end of the runway. Post-accident inspection of the engine found no evidence of a mechanical malfunction. Both fuel tanks were inspected for fuel and a trace amount of fuel was found in each fuel bladder. Inspection of the right wing inboard fuel sender found that the unit was unsecured. The left wings sender unit was secured. Both sender units were checked for cockpit indications. Both indicated empty when the float was extended to the bottom of the tanks and indicated fuel levels throughout the movement of the float from top to bottom. Approximately three gallons of fuel was put in the right side fuel tank to inspect for leaks. None were detected. The left wings piping structure had pulled out of the bladder connector during the accident sequence which allowed fuel to drain from the left fuel tank therefore fuel quantity could not be determined. The left and right side fuel tanks are not interconnected.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A loss of engine power due to fuel starvation during the initial climb after takeoff as a result of an unsecured fuel sender unit which resulted in a false fuel quantity indication.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/29/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1135 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Havre |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59501 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 483258N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1094500W |
| Event Location Airport | Havre City - County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | HVR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2590 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1155 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HVR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2590 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 16 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.62 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 16619 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 29 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 28 2004 10:11AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Helena, Montana |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7DR |
| NTSB Number | SEA04LA094 |
| 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 | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | P-35 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | D-6995 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3125 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jun 1 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 4720 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Walter E. Herman |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Humble |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 77338 |
| 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 | HVR |
| Departure City | Havre |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1135 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 3U8 |
| Destination City | Big Sandy |
| Destination State | MT |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 27 2004 2:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 25 |
| Runway Length | 5205 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |