Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nortonville, North Dakota 58454
Wednesday, June 4, 2008 10:56 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Prior to takeoff the pilot checked the fuel quantity using the gauges which were indicating a quarter tank of fuel on the left side, and a half tank of fuel on the right side. He did not visually check the quantity by looking in the tanks. The pilot recalled that approximately 50 minutes into the flight, the left fuel tank was indicating less than one-eight of a tank, and the right tank was indicating between one-quarter and one-half of a tank. He stated that shortly thereafter the engine stopped producing power. He checked the magnetos and switched fuel tanks, but did not apply carburetor heat. When he switched the fuel selector to the right fuel tank position, the engine momentarily "seemed like it would start, but it did not." The pilot lined the airplane up to land on a road, then noticed power lines crossing the road. He then selected an open field in which to land. He maneuvered the airplane to line up parallel with the plowed rows, and said he did not have enough time to extend the flaps. The airplane nosed over when the nose wheel dug into the soft terrain. Postaccident inspection of the airplane revealed a total of less than 1-quart of fuel was on the airplane. There was no indication of fuel leaking from the airplane following the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight which resulted in insufficient fuel on board to complete the flight. A factor associated with the accident was the soft terrain encountered during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/4/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1056 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Nortonville |
| Event State | NORTH DAKOTA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 58454 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 463700N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0984000W |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1056 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JMS |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1498 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 23 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.56 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 23869 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 4 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 30 2008 9:00AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fargo, ND FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1437Y |
| NTSB Number | CHI08CA157 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cessna |
| Aircraft Model | 172C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17249137 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Shawn E. Fletcher |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Duane A. Sand |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Bismarck |
| Operator State | ND |
| 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 | BIS |
| Departure City | Bismarck |
| Departure State | ND |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 940 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | 6L3 |
| Destination City | Lisbon |
| Destination State | ND |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 30 2008 4:53PM |
| User who most recently changed record | DINC |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |