Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Marshall, Minnesota 56258
Saturday, September 4, 2004 11:00 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a loss of engine power during cruise flight. The pilot stated in a telephone interview that during the flight, a pilot-rated passenger was handling radio communications and also handling some flying duties. He stated that he believes that the pilot-rated passenger inadvertently switched the fuel selectors so that both engines were using fuel from the right main fuel tank. He said that he believes that this occurred when the pilot-rated passenger was attempting to switch the fuel tanks from the auxiliary fuel tanks back to the main fuel tanks. He stated that later in the flight both engines stopped producing power. The pilot stated that he switched fuel tanks and was able to re-start the left engine, but could not get the right engine to restart. He said that he was unable to maintain altitude and elected to land on a gravel road. The pilot said that the road was narrow and the left landing gear went off of the road. The airplane subsequently went off of the left side of the road and into a bean field. The pilot stated that during the attempts to restart the right engine, the propeller was not placed in the feather position. He stated that he was the pilot in command of the flight and that he was seated in the left seat of the airplane. The pilot did not report any malfunction of the airplane or it's systems.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot rated passenger selecting an improper fuel selector position, and the pilot in command not verifying the fuel selector position which resulted in fuel starvation. Contributing factors were the pilot's failure to feather the right engine propeller during the emergency, the unsuitable terrain encountered during the landing, and the crop.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/4/2004
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1100
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Marshall
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 56258
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 443900N
Event Location Longitude 0952249W
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 --
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 --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling --
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
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 5
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16679
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
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 --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5005J
NTSB Number CHI04CA252
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model T310R
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 310R0129
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
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 Dowding Tool Products, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Maurice H. Dowding
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Springport
Operator State MI
Operator Country USA
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 --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code FPK
Departure City CHARLOTTE
Departure State MI
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code ATY
Destination City WATERTOWN
Destination State SD
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Oct 12 2004 3:13PM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --