20010817022749A

(-23) Immediately following an aerial application the engine quit due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot setup for an emergency landing to a nearby field when the tail wheel struck a power line. The aircraft came to rest in the field right side up. The aircraft received substantial damage. The pilot was uninjured. (.19) on August 17, 2001 at 0915 mountain daylight time, a rockwell S-25, agricultural airplane, N4890X, sustained substantial damage during the forced landing following a loss of engine power during cruise flight near clint, Texas. The aircraft was owned and operated by tnt aviation, inc., of Fabens, Texas, under code of federal regulations part 137. The commercial pilot was not injured. The flight originated at 0700 from the operator's private airstrip near Fabens, Texas. The pilot reported that on the previous afternoon, following an aerial application flight, he landed the airplane at Fabens. On the morning of the accident, the pilot arrived at the aircraft and thinking that the airplane had been topped and the hopper filled with chemicals, he departed for the flight. The pilot stated that the airplane holds 1 06 gallons of usable fuel with a fuel burn of 40 gallons per hour, and since the airplane had not been topped, the airplane "was out of fuel." The FAA inspector, who responded to the site, found the engine displaced at an approximate 45 degree angle to the damaged firewall. An unidentified witness reported that the "tailwheel caught the top wire of the power lines and the airplane struck the ground nose down." (.4) on August 17, 2001, at 0910 mountain standard time, a rockwell S-2R, agricultural airplane, N4890X, sustained substantial damage during the forced landing following a loss of engine power during cruise flight near Fabens, Texas. The aircraft was owned and operated by t&t aviation, inc., of Fabens, Texas, under code of federal regulations part 137. The commercial pilot was not injured. The flight originated at 0710, from the Fabens Airport. On the pilot/operator aircraft accident report (NTSB form 6120.1/2), the pilot reported that on the previous afternoon, following an aerial application flight, he landed the airplane at the Fabens Airport. On the morning of the accident, the pilot arrived at the aircraft and performed a preflight ins pection; however, he did not visually check the fuel level to ensure the tanks were topped from the previous day's flight. The flight departed the airport and completed the spraying of 175 acres. The aircraft was en route to the Fabens Airport for refueling and reloading of chemical when the "engine quit due to fuel starvation." During the forced landing to a field, the tail wheel of the airplane hooked the top wire of power lines and "caused the aircraft to pancake into the field, taking out the landing gear as well as snapping the top power line." Following the accident, the pilot recommended the "1.) Use of calibrated fuel tank stick to positively verify amount indicated by fuel gauge, 2.) Checked [fuel] by pilot each and every time, [and] 3.) Do not depend on ground personnel." The FAA inspector, who responded to the site, found the engine displaced at an approximate 45 degree angle to the damaged firewall. The main landing gear and the propeller were also damaged.