- Date
- June 17, 1996, 10:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Prescott, AR
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N6210ZWsk Pzl Mielec M-18
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 18, 1997
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960617014229A
- Case key
- 19873
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
The loss of engine power due to improper fuel. Factors were the pilot's inadequate preflight and lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
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
The pilot reported that immediately after liftoff the engine 'lost power' and the 'airplane stalled back to the ground.' The aircraft overran the departure end of the runway and continued down an embankment where the landing gear separated from the fuselage. Postcrash examination of the engine revealed the presence of non-approved fuel.
Factual narrative
On June 17, 1996, at 1000 central daylight time, a WSK PZL Mielec M-18, N6210Z, registered to and operated by Ag Air Service of Hughes, Arkansas, under Title 14 CFR Part 137, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Prescott, Arkansas. The commercial pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local aerial application flight that was originating at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported that immediately after liftoff the engine "lost power" and the "airplane stalled back to the ground." The pilot further reported that the aircraft overran the departure end of the runway and continued down an embankment where the landing gear was separated from the fuselage. The aircraft's fuselage and both wings were subsequently structurally damaged before coming to rest in a field.
Post-crash examination of the engine, by an FAA inspector, revealed the presence of none approved fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6210Z
- Reported as
- Wsk Pzl Mielec M-18
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1Z009-13
- Engine
- Wsk Pzl Miele ASZ-62IR, 986 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Registered owner
- Ag Air Service
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- NONE
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
- 62
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 20,000 total · 100 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TXK, 48 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.