Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Tuckerman, Arkansas 72445
Monday, May 29, 2006 17:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The 13,000-hour commercial pilot departed from a private airstrip for an aerial application flight. Approximately, 3 miles from the airstrip the 1,350 horsepower engine lost power and the pilot elected to execute a forced landing in a rice field. The pilot stated that he was "forced" to make the emergency landing in the rice field because of the "low altitude" he was at when the engine lost power. During the forced landing, the airplane received structural damage. The operator reported that he found "a substantial amount" of water in the airplane's header tank.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The loss of engine power due to water contamination in the fuel. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/29/2006
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1730
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Tuckerman
Event State ARKANSAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 72445
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 354783N
Event Location Longitude 0910912W
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 1.5
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
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 None
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) 200
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 20
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 20339
NTSB Notification Source FAA FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Jun 1 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 3 2006 2:46PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FSDO, Oklahoma City, OK

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N175LA
NTSB Number DFW06CA146
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-802
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 802A-0175
Certified Max Gross Weight 16000
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection May 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 1128.1
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Farm Air Corp
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. Box 84
Aircraft Owner City Minturn
Aircraft Owner State AR
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 72445
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 --
Departure City Tuckerman
Departure State AR
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Tuckerman
Destination State AR
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Climb - to cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 27 2006 3:49PM
User who most recently changed record CASH
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --