Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Atlantic, Iowa 50022
Saturday, December 4, 2004 18:15 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The rental/instructional airplane received substantial damage on impact with terrain during a forced landing. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. Inspection of the airplane revealed that the fuel selector(s) were positioned to the main fuel tanks and that the right auxiliary fuel tank contained an estimated 5-10 gallons of fuel. All remaining fuel tanks did not contain any usable fuel. The pilot stated that at the time of total engine power loss, it was decided to enter a left downwind for runway 12 since a straight-in approach to runway 30 at that time would leave "us a little high." The airplane impacted terrain while on final for runway 12. The operator stated that he mentioned to both pilots that there was no fuel in the auxiliary tanks and if the main fuel tanks were full, there was only 3 hours of fuel on board. He stated that both pilots used the accident airplane in their training towards their multiengine land airplane certificates and that they knew what the fuel consumption rate of the airplane was. The pilot and pilot rated passenger held multiengine airplane certificates. The pilot also held a certified flight instructor (CFI) certificate with a single-engine airplane rating, and the pilot-rated passenger held a CFI certificate with single-engine and multiengine land ratings. According to the operator, both pilots had used the accident airplane in their training towards their multiengine airplane certificates and that the purpose of the accident flight was for both pilots to accumulate flight time. The airplane was certified under Civil Air Regulations as a normal category airplane not equipped with shoulder harnesses.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision which resulted in fuel exhaustion. The dark night light conditions was a contributing factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/4/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1815 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Atlantic |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 50022 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 412426N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0950249W |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | Night |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | -- |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17279 |
| 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 | Feb 24 2005 9:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7803Y |
| NTSB Number | CHI05CA041 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-30 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 30-882 |
| 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 | 1 |
| 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 | Husker Aircraft Repair Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Husker Aircraft Repair Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Omaha |
| Operator State | NE |
| 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 | DBQ |
| Departure City | Dubuque |
| Departure State | IA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | MLE |
| Destination City | Omaha |
| Destination State | NE |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |