Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Britton, South Dakota 57430
Wednesday, June 23, 2004 9:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The aerial-application airplane impacted soft terrain and nosed over during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The pilot reported the engine began running rough after he completed his spraying and was returning to the departure airport. The pilot stated he eventually had to perform a forced landing into a soft field, during which the airplane nosed over. The engine was inspected and the shaft mount for the number eight cylinder rocker-arm was cracked and separated, consistent with damage caused by a stuck exhaust valve.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power due to a stuck exhaust valve and the unsuitable terrain encountered during the forced landing. A factor to the accident was the soft terrain condition.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/23/2004
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 945
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Britton
Event State SOUTH DAKOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 57430
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 454722N
Event Location Longitude 0974458W
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 Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 233
Weather Observation Facility ID ABR
Elevation of weather observation facility 1302
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 36
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 7000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 9
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 320
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 20
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 28
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.9
Density Altitude (feet) 2586
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) 16029
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 23 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1430
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Sep 1 2004 7:08AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Federal Aviation Administration - Rapid City FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1013N
NTSB Number CHI04CA162
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Air Tractor
Aircraft Model AT-401
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 401-0722
Certified Max Gross Weight 6000
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 Apr 28 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 94.4
Airframe Hours 2967.9
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Dakota Ag Service, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 941
Aircraft Owner City Britton
Aircraft Owner State SD
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 57430
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 DAKG
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) Aerial Application
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code BTN
Departure City Britton
Departure State SD
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 900
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code BTN
Destination City Britton
Destination State SD
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency descent/landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 7 2004 3:34PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
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 --