# NTSB CEN20CA331: Cessna A188, N9278G, Hartington, NE, July 27, 2020 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Data collection · Final report - Date: July 27, 2020, 07:45 local (12:45 UTC) - Place: Hartington, NE - Coordinates: 42.603054, -97.253608 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=42.6031&lon=-97.2536&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Takeoff](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/300) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Takeoff: Miscellaneous/other](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/900) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed - Report: Approved by Office Director - Investigation class: Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish - NTSB office: Central Region - Parties: Continental Motors, Federal Aviation Administration, Textron Aviation - NTSB case key (mKey): 101768 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=CEN20CA331 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/101768/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=101768 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN20CA331 ## Probable cause The pilot's failure to ensure that the engine oil cap was installed before takeoff, which resulted in the oil obscuring the pilot’s view through the windshield and necessitated a forced landing on unsuitable terrain. Contributing to the accident were the pilot’s complacency and self-induced pressure to complete the flight. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Fluids: oil](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071020): Aircraft › Fluids/misc hardware · Inadequate inspection (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna A188B, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071020/cases.md?model=2073005), [All aircraft, 174 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071020/cases.md) - [Fluids: oil](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071020): Aircraft › Fluids/misc hardware · Fluid level (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna A188B, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071020/cases.md?model=2073005), [All aircraft, 174 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01071020/cases.md) - [Inspection: preflight inspection](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061510): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Cessna A188B, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061510/cases.md?model=2073005), [All aircraft, 551 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02061510/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Prior to flight: Aircraft inspection event](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/050); cases with it: [Cessna A188B, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/050/sequence.md?model=2073005), [All aircraft, 229 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/050/sequence.md) - [Takeoff: Miscellaneous/other](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/900) (defining event); cases with it: [Cessna A188B, 8 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/900/sequence.md?model=2073005), [All aircraft, 1,556 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/900/sequence.md) - [Emergency descent: Off-field or emergency landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440); cases with it: [Cessna A188B, 14 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440/sequence.md?model=2073005), [All aircraft, 3,365 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/440/sequence.md) - [Landing: Collision during takeoff/land](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/490); cases with it: [Cessna A188B, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/490/sequence.md?model=2073005), [All aircraft, 1,309 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/490/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot reported that, before conducting a local, aerial application flight, he changed the engine oil. After refueling and loading the airplane with chemicals, the pilot departed. Shortly after takeoff, the windshield became covered with oil, which limited the pilot's visibility. He turned the airplane left toward a grass runway. The pilot did not dump the chemical load, and the airplane had a low airspeed and began to lose altitude. The pilot was not able to attain a climb, so he chose to conduct a forced landing in a cornfield near the end of the runway, during which the wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that the reason the oil covered the windshield was that he had not reinstalled the oil cap after changing the oil. He added that he “had gotten out of …[his] routine” while performing the oil change and that ”complacency” and being in a “hurry were also some factors" in the accident. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N9278G](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N9278G-2022-02-15), registration cancelled 2022-02-15, S/N 18801444, built 1973 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna A188 (B) - Registry model: [Cessna A188B](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-a188b) (registry code 2073005) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (registry code 17032, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 18801444 - Year built: 1973 - Airframe hours: 4954.4 - Engines: Continental IO-520-D112 300 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Aerial application, Part 137 - Operator: Becker Flying Service Inc - Registered owner: Skyview Applicators LLC - Airworthiness certificate: Special, Restricted (Special) - Last inspection: Annual, May 1, 2020 - Departed: 0B4, Hartington, NE - Destination: 0B4, Hartington, NE - Airport: 0B4, Hartington Muni/ Bud Becker Fl - Equipment: Stall warning system ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 44; injuries: none; private, flight instructor, commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, unknown; last flight review April 11, 2020; seat: single; flight hours: 2,211.6 total, 143.5 in this make and model, 2,050 as pilot in command, 170 in the last 90 days, 127 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 330° at 4 knots - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none - Temperature: 66 °F, dew point 63 °F - Altimeter: 30.11 inHg - Observed at: KYKN, 17 nm away ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20200727010659A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20200727010659A), Jul 27, 2020: Cessna A188B, Hartington, NE, Substantial damage. The pilot of the agricultural aircraft took off on runway 31 from the Hartington, NE airport. Shortly after takeoff the windshield became covered in oil. The… ## Docket (4 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 2, 2021, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=101768. 4.2 MB in all. - Pilot/operator aircraft accident report, NTSB form 6120.1 (item 1, PDF, 9 pages, 2.3 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=10175680&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=6120_1%20-Rel.pdf - Photos (item 2, PDF, 7 pages, 7 photos, 1.3 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=10126081&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=20Photo331-Rel.pdf - Statement of party representatives to NTSB investigation (item 3, PDF, 2 pages, 403 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=10174034&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=20party331_Redacted-Rel.pdf - Miscellaneous information - national agricultural aviation association paass publication (item 4, PDF, 1 page, 142 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=10173444&FileExtension=pdf&FileName=FlySafe082420_Redacted-Rel.pdf From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.