Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
James A Rhodes Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Jackson, Ohio 45656
Saturday, August 14, 2004 17:20 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot took off with an unknown quantity of fuel. The engine lost power, and the pilot maneuvered for a forced landing to a field. During the approach, the engine stopped producing power, and the airplane touched down, struck trees, and separated the right wing before coming to rest. There was little evidence of fuel and no odor of fuel at the scene. An annual inspection had been completed 6 months prior, but the airplane had flown less than 1 hour since the inspection. The fuel capacity of the airplane was 68 gallons, and the owner said he serviced the airplane with 56 gallons of fuel between the time of the annual inspection and the accident flight. The pilot said that while he did not determine the exact amount of fuel on board, the left tank contained fuel and the fuel gauge indicated one-quarter tank. The right tank gauge indicated full. The pilot said he found this unusual because the right tank was "up", but not full. According to the before-takeoff checklist in the Pilot's Operating Handbook, the pilot is directed to place the fuel selector on the "RIGHT or LEFT (fullest)" tank prior to takeoff. When asked, the pilot said the fuel selector was placed in the right tank position. After the accident, the engine started and ran on the airframe. According to the pilot, "I didn't bring my stick with me. The only way to tell [fuel level] is to stick it, and unfortunately, I didn't stick the tanks."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons over unsuitable terrain.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/14/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1720 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Jackson |
| Event State | OHIO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 45656 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 385802N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823440W |
| Event Location Airport | James A Rhodes Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | I43 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 726 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1751 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | HTS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 726 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| 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) | 22 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| 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) | 17176 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA GLROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 14 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2000 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Cincinnati, Ohio |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1222J |
| NTSB Number | IAD04LA037 |
| 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 | Aero Commander |
| Aircraft Model | 112 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 222 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2150 |
| 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 | Feb 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 1507 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Greg E. Keifer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 18478 State Route 279 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Oak Hill |
| Aircraft Owner State | OH |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 45656 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| 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 | I43 |
| Departure City | Jackson |
| Departure State | OH |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1715 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| 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 | -- |