- Date
- March 26, 2008, 09:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Plains, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4427SAir Tractor At-301
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 30, 2008
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Kansas City, Kansas
- FAA report
- 20080326831429A
- Case key
- 67722
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
A loss of engine power as a result of a blocked carburetor. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The commercial pilot was repositioning a single-engine agricultural airplane to a private grass strip when the engine lost power while on final approach. The pilot was unable to maintain his altitude so he made a forced landing to the only suitable field available. However, during the roll out he applied the brakes to avoid colliding with a large sprinkler apparatus and flipped over. As a result the vertical stabilizer and the rudder were substantially damaged. Further examination of the radial engine by the operator revealed that the flexible intake hose had come loose and was ingested into the carburetor blocking the throat of the carburetor.
Factual narrative
The commercial pilot was repositioning a single-engine agricultural airplane to a private grass strip when the engine lost power while on final approach. The pilot was unable to maintain his altitude so he made a forced landing to the only suitable field available. However, during the roll out he applied the brakes to avoid colliding with a large sprinkler apparatus and flipped over. As a result the vertical stabilizer and the rudder were substantially damage. Further examination of the radial engine by the operator revealed that the flexible intake hose had come loose and was ingested into the carburetor blocking the throat of the carburetor.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4427S
- Reported as
- Air Tractor At-301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-0087
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R1340, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Shannon L. Dickson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Departed
- NONE · Lakin, KS
- Destination
- NONE · Plains, KS
- Airport
- NONE · Private
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
- 23
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 490 total · 158 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.