Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Private Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cherry Valley, Arkansas 72324
Tuesady, May 24, 2005 14:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The 1,931-hour commercial pilot departed on his twenty-first flight of the day from a 2,200-foot-long and 70-foot-wide grass runway with a 22 knot tailwind. The airplane was loaded with less fuel and the same amount of fertilizer as the previous twenty flights, but the wind velocity had steadily increased throughout the day. The pilot said the airplane became airborne approximately 1,800 to 1,900 feet down the runway, but stayed in ground effect and subsequently struck two levees before it crossed a gravel road and impacted a ditch. The airplane eventually came to rest in a bean field. He said, "The tailwind and the load probably caused the airplane not to climb." The pilot also said that he did not calculate any take off performance data prior to departure.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to calculate take off-distance performance data, which resulted in insufficient runway length for take off. Factors were the tailwind and high gross weight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/24/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Cherry Valley |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 72324 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 352215N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0904522W |
| Event Location Airport | Private |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| 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 | 269 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| 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 | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 14 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18246 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA FSDO - LIT |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 24 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 13 2005 12:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Little Rock, Arkansas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N198AS |
| NTSB Number | DFW05CA131 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-402A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AT402A-1053 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7000 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2005 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 83 |
| Airframe Hours | 2582 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Chad Runsick |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 420 County Road 398 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Wynne |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72396 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Runsick Flying Service |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Wynne |
| Operator State | AR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Cherry Valley |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| 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 |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 12 2005 9:42AM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 2200 |
| Runway Width | 70 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |