Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ruleville, Mississippi 38771
Monday, April 9, 2012 13:30 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot departed on an aerial application flight with an estimated 53 gallons of fuel. He had not reset the fuel totalizer before departure. He made numerous passes over a 100-acre field spraying fertilizer during the 30 minute flight. After his last pass, the pilot noticed a fuel flow fluctuation. The engine subsequently lost power at an altitude of 75 to 100 feet above the ground, and the pilot made a forced landing. He pulled the airplane off the ground again briefly to clear an obstruction; however, when the airplane touched down again, the left main landing gear sank into soft ground and sheared off. The airplane rotated to the right onto its nose, and the left wing sustained structural damage. Postaccident examination revealed that the left and right main fuel caps had a tight seal and there was no evidence of streaking or venting of fuel on the airplane or on the ground. The left, right, header, and purge fuel tanks were drained and yielded about 34 total ounces of fuel—two ounces from the right fuel tank and 32 ounces from the header tank. The left and purge tanks contained no fuel. No preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures were found that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and in-flight fuel management, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/9/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1330 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | Ruleville |
| Event State | MISSISSIPPI |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 38771 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333433N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0903305W |
| 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 | 1353 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 123 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GWO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 155 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 30 |
| 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 | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.16 |
| 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) | 30311 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 10 2012 2:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N51037 |
| NTSB Number | ERA12CA275 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | AIR TRACTOR INC |
| Aircraft Model | AT-602 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 602-0464 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 24 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 144 |
| Airframe Hours | 5311 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BOYLE FLYING SERVICE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 517 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BOYLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | MS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 38730-0517 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BOYLE FLYING SERVICE INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 517 |
| Operator City | BOYLE |
| Operator State | MS |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 38730-0517 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | -- |
| Departure City | Boyle |
| Departure State | MS |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1300 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Boyle |
| Destination State | MS |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 10 2012 2:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |