Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Crystal Lake, Illinois 60014
Monday, August 23, 2004 11:55 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to a municipal park after a loss of engine power. The pilot reported that he "dipped" the fuel tanks during his preflight and the left tank had 30 gallons and that right tank had 18 gallons. The planned flight time was 58 minutes and the he had 3 hours of fuel on board. He reported that about 58 minutes after departure he was approximately 4 miles north of the Lake in the Hills Airport (3CK) when the engine started to run rough and quit. He applied carburetor heat, switched the fuel selector to "Left" from "Both," put the mixture control to rich, checked the magnetos, and tried to restart the engine without success. He established the best glide speed and turned toward 3CK. He realized that he was not going to be able to make the airport because the airplane was too low. He executed a forced landing to a park that contained playing fields. During landing rollout the airplane impacted a row of pine trees at the east end of the soccer fields. The airplane remained in a normal, upright position. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the left wing fuel cap was missing and the left fuel tank was empty. The top left wing sheet metal, left flap, and left rear horizontal stabilizer had fuel stains trailing from the left fuel tank filler opening. There was no sign of fuel spilled on the ground around the left wing and there was no smell of fuel. A search of the surrounding area was made for the missing left fuel cap, but it was not found. The right wing separated from the fuselage. The right fuel tank cap was still installed. The right fuel tank was empty. There were no fuel stains on the top right wing surface, right flap, or right horizontal stabilizer. There was no sign of fuel spilled on the ground around the right wing and there was no smell of fuel. An inspection of the engine revealed that it exhibited continuity.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Engine failure due to fuel exhaustion as a result of the pilot's failure to secure the left wing fuel cap during preflight. A factor was the trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/23/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1155 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Crystal Lake |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60014 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 422318N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0883353W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | -- |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DPA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3800 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.94 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KDPA 231653Z AUTO 07011KT 10SM SCT029 BKN038 |
| 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) | 16484 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 23 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 | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N92848 |
| NTSB Number | CHI04CA236 |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 182 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 18260394 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2950 |
| 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 | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J Rosater |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | J Rosater |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 2917 Raycraft Rd. |
| Operator City | Woodstock |
| Operator State | IL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 60098 |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | DNV |
| Departure City | Danville |
| Departure State | IL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1058 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 10C |
| Destination City | Wonderlake |
| Destination State | IL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2004 5:16PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |