- Date
- June 27, 2009, 07:05 local (13:05 UTC)
- Place
- Preston, ID
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N8600LPiper PA-25-235
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern base: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 30, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- Case key
- 74153
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 due to fuel exhaustion that resulted from the pilot's inadequate fuel planning.
Findings · 2
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 pilot reported that he was returning to the airport after an aerial application. While turning from base to final, the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot force-landed the airplane in a field; however, the field had been flood irrigated and the airplane nosed over. The pilot reported that usually he fuels the airplane to the same mark and then writes down the tachometer time. He felt that he may not have fueled to the mark and/or he spent more time on the field than he anticipated. There were no mechanical anomalies reported.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was returning to the airport after an aerial application. While turning from base to final, the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot force-landed the airplane in a field; however, the field had been flood irrigated and the airplane nosed-over. The pilot reported that usually he fuels the airplane to the same mark and then writes down the tachometer time. He felt that he may not have fueled to the mark and/or he spent more time on the field than he anticipated. There were no mechanical anomalies reported.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8600L
- Reported as
- Piper PA-25-235
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-5023
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540 SERIES, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Aerial application · Part 137
- Operator
- Simpson Aviation And Agriculture Inc
- Registered owner
- Hill Curt
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Departed
- U10 · Preston, ID
- Destination
- U10 · Preston, ID
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
- 58
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Flight hours
- 12,500 total · 110 in this make and model · 30 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.21 inHg
- Observed at
- KLGU, 20 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 24, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 560 KB in all.
Other investigations on N8600L · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.