Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Church Point, Louisiana 70525
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 17:00 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that, during an agricultural application flight, the engine began to surge and lose power and that the propeller did not autofeather and appeared to be locked up. He made a forced landing to an open field, and the airplane subsequently collided with trees. The pilot said he thought the airplane had plenty of fuel because he usually flew the airplane for 2 hours as recorded on the Hobbs meter before it needed more fuel but that he had only flown for 0.8 hour since fueling the airplane. However, he later stated that the airplane was starved of fuel and that he should have known the engine fuel burn and the airplane fuel capacity and should have checked the fuel during preflight. No fuel was found in the fuel tanks, no fuel leaks were found, and no fuel was found on the ground. Upon application of electrical power, the fuel gauge read “0,” and the “low fuel” annunciator light illuminated. Disassembly and examination of the engine revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have caused the engine to lose power.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s improper preflight inspection and in-flight fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/19/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1700 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Church Point |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70525 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 302616N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0921115W |
| Event Location Airport | N/A |
| 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 | 1635 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KOPL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 751635 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3700 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 16 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KOPL192235Z AUTO 21012g18KT 10SM SCT037 SCT0 |
| 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) | 33186 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ASW ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 25 2014 11:17AM |
| User who most recently changed record | bakd |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5035R |
| NTSB Number | CEN14LA147 |
| 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 INC |
| Aircraft Model | AT 602 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | NO SERIES |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 602-0426 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Richard Flying Service, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Rayne |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70578-4818 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Richard Flying Service, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | On File |
| Operator City | Rayne |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 70578-4818 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| 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) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | Rayne |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1615 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | NONE |
| Destination City | Rayne |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 25 2014 3:42PM |
| User who most recently changed record | scoa |
| 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 | -- |