Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Imperial Muni Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Imperial, Nebraska 69033
Monday, April 4, 2005 10:25 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aerial application airplane was damaged during a forced landing to a field following a loss of engine power. The pilot reported that he had about 40 minutes of fuel remaining when he exited the last sprayed field. He stated that when he was about 1 mile south of the airport, the engine lost power. He checked the fuel flow meter which "suggested" he had over 30 minutes of fuel remaining, with 1/4 in one tank and 1/8 in the other tank. He stated that he executed a landing to a field and the main landing gear sunk into the soft dirt and the airplane nosed over. Post accident examination of the airplane revealed no useable quantity of fuel remaining in the fuel tanks. Subsequent to the accident, the airplane's engine was removed from the airplane and a functional test performed. The engine was run on a test stand and no anomalies were found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning which led to fuel exhaustion and subsequent loss of engine power. The soft ground was a factor.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/4/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1025 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Imperial |
| Event State | NEBRASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 69033 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403037N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1013712W |
| Event Location Airport | IMPERIAL MUNI |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | IML |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3272 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 953 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KIML |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 3272 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 280 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.62 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19949 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 4 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1409 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 31 2006 10:47AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Lincoln, Nebraske |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5015K |
| NTSB Number | CHI05LA088 |
| 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-602 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 602-0429 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Top Hat Aerial Applicators, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO Box 685 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Benkelman |
| Aircraft Owner State | NE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 69021 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | TOP HAT AERIAL APPLICATORS INC |
| 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 | PPVG |
| 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 | IML |
| Departure City | Imperial |
| Departure State | NE |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 928 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| 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 | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 8 2006 7:41AM |
| 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 | -- |