Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Smith Center, Kansas 66967
Wednesday, April 12, 2006 11:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot said, "Everything seemed okay and I took off on runway 35 from the Smith Center Municipal Airport ... As I turned and headed east, I took out the notch of flaps, and the tail of the plane sank. The plane was flying poorly and felt like it was on the edge of a stall. The throttle and mixture were full forward, and the tachometer was indicating 2,700 rpm." The pilot said that when he put the notch of flaps back in, the airplane seemed to perform better. The pilot said, "With almost a full load [of chemical], I did not want to land back at the airport, so I proceeded to the field thinking that once I had sprayed a few passes and relieved some of the weight, the airplane would start flying better." The pilot said that as he came to the pasture, he was only able to climb the airplane to approximately 300 feet above ground level (agl). He circled the field a couple of times looking for power lines, trees, anything that might hinder spraying operations. The pilot made his first pass about 20 feet above the ground. After the pass, he made a wide right turn. The airplane would not hold altitude in the turn. Attributing the poor performance to the airplane's weight, the pilot maneuvered to make the next pass over the middle of the field so that he could "dump some of the weight." He made a second pass over the field followed by a wide left turn toward the southwest and the airport. On completion of the turn, the pilot noted he had descended to approximately 40 feet agl. In front of him were power lines that he was now lower than and had to clear in order to return to the airport. The pilot said he started a climb about three-quarters of a mile from the power lines. The airplane was approximately 40 feet agl it "went into a stall." The pilot said he leveled the wings and prepared for the crash. The airplane hit the ground flat and slid approximately 100 feet before striking a pasture fence. An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies. The density altitude at the time of the accident was 2,489 feet. The airplane's gross weight at the time of the accident was determined as approximately 2,993 pounds. Specifications for the PA-25-235 show an empty weight of 1,288 pounds and a maximum takeoff weight of 2,900 pounds. Civil Aeronautics Manual (CAM) 8, paragraph 8.10-4 (b) "Maximum Weight" states that establishing a maximum weight for an agricultural aircraft is not required.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush, and subsequent impact with the field and fence. A factor contributing to the accident was the pilot's inadequate flight planning and preparation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/12/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1120 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Smith Center |
| Event State | KANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 66967 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 394540N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0984737W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| 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 | 1135 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 210 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KHYS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1840 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 67 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.22 |
| 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) | 20044 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA-Wichita FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 12 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 29 2006 3:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Wichita, KS FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9886P |
| NTSB Number | DEN06LA061 |
| 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 | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-25-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-7556212 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3233 |
| 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 | Apr 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 10001 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Abbotts Ag Force, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1339 E. Kiowa Road |
| Aircraft Owner City | Agra |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 67621 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| 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 | K82 |
| Departure City | Smith Center |
| Departure State | KS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1100 |
| 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 | Maneuvering - aerial application |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2006 11:04AM |
| User who most recently changed record | BOWL |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |