Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Black Oak, Arkansas 72301
Friday, June 13, 1997 16:00 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Shortly after takeoff, the agricultural airplane lost power. During the forced landing, the airplane was destroyed. Wreckage examination revealed that the propeller blades were in the flat pitch range, bent straight rearward. The blades did not have a twist set nor was there leading edge damage corresponding to powered rotation at impact. Engine examination revealed that all of the blades of the compressor turbine disc were damaged or fragmented. Two of the 58 blades were found fractured at the root and several blade tips showed thermal distress. The compressor disc shroud segment had ballistic indentations corresponding to the fragmented compressor blades. Both power turbine and compressor turbine shroud segments did not show circumferential machining. The fuel filter from the high pressure fuel pump had black residues embedded throughout the filter element. All 58 blades on the compressor turbine disc had been replaced in 1991. No reference was found as to whether or not the replacement blades were new or used parts. The last recorded hot section was in December, 1994, at 7,063.2 hours TSOH. The TSOH at the time of the accident was 7,632.5 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The loss of engine power due to compressor turbine blade failure. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/13/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | BLACK OAK |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 72301 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1655 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | JBR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 262 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 220 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1761 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 13 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1814 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3161J |
| NTSB Number | FTW97LA223 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 137: Agricultural |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-400A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AT-400A |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 400A-0489 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 12 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 244 |
| Airframe Hours | 4743 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | RICKY D. HARRIS |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1100 STRATFORD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WEST MEMPHIS |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72301 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | H9RG |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Agriculture |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Unknown |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Unknown |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Unknown |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Application |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | EARLE |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1558 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |