Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Redding, Iowa 50860
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 1:20 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane had recently been purchased by the pilot and was being flown to his hometown airport. During the flight, the airplane's engine lost power and the pilot executed a forced landing in a rolling hay field which resulted in the airplane sustaining substantial damage. Examination of the airplane revealed that the fuel tank had ruptured during the impact, however, further examination revealed no fuel remaining in the fuel lines or in the carburetor bowl. The pilot was issued a student pilot certificate and third class medical certificate on June 12, 2002. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records showed no further pilot or medical certificates issued to the pilot. The airplane was not registered and did not have an airworthiness certificate issued by the FAA. According to published data, a typical airplane of the same model has an empty weight of 325 pounds. The maximum legal empty weight limit for ultralight airplanes is 254 pounds. The pilot reported that he was unaware that the airplane was not an ultralight until after he had purchased it. He reported that "the people at the field told me I could fly 60 min[utes] plus 1 gal[lon]. It didn't."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to properly manage the fuel supply of the airplane which resulted in fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the hilly terrain encountered during the subsequent forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/17/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 120 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Redding |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 50860 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 403622N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0942313W |
| 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 | Unknown |
| 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 | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| 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) | 24640 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 20 2008 2:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dinc |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | Unregistere |
| NTSB Number | CHI08CA290 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Unknown |
| Aircraft Model | Supercat |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | None |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 650 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | James H. Fisher |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1319 S. Middleton |
| Aircraft Owner City | Eagle Grove |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 50533 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | James H. Fisher |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 1319 S. Middleton |
| Operator City | Eagle Grove |
| Operator State | IA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 50533 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | St. Joseph |
| Departure State | MO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EAG |
| Destination City | Eagle Grove |
| Destination State | IA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 4 2008 3:04PM |
| User who most recently changed record | brajo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |