- Date
- May 22, 1989, 07:00 local (12:00 UTC)
- Place
- Suring, WI
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4395YPiper PA-25-235
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 25, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890522012129A
- Case key
- 14207
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Improper planning/decision by the pilot, which resulted in fuel exhaustion and loss of engine power due to an inadequate supply of fuel. Factors related to th accident were: the lack of suitable terrain and trees in the emergency landing area.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
After completion of an aerial application operation, the pilot made a climbing turn to return to the staging area. During the climb, the engine lost power and an immediate emergency landing was initiated. However, due to low altitude, the pilot was unable to glide the aircraft to a suitable landing site. The aircraft collided with trees and then the terrain. A subsequent investigation revealed that only unusable fuel was remaining in the aircraft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4395Y
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-4907
- Airframe hours
- 4,068
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B-2C5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Ag-Air, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Ag-Co Of Wisconsin Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 9, 1989 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- NONE · Williams Farms, WI
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 45
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Center
- Flight hours
- 9,551 total · 1,500 in this make and model · 9,476 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MNM, 28 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.