Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Edwards, Mississippi 39066
Friday, June 20, 1997 18:40 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The engine lost power as the pilot pulled up from an aerial application run. The pilot immediately made a forced landing in a field and was unable to stop the aircraft before it collided with trees at the end of the field. Postcrash examination of the engine showed the right magneto distributor drive gear had several gear teeth missing, and the gear would occasionally not drive the distributor. This caused the magneto to lose timing with the engine. The pilot said he did not have time to cycle the magneto switches before making a forced landing.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

failure of the distributor drive gear in the right magneto, resulting in loss of engine power and a forced landing. The lack of suitable terrain for a forced landing was a related factor.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/20/1997
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1840
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City EDWARDS
Event State MISSISSIPPI
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 39066
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 Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1854 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 80
Weather Observation Facility ID JAN
Elevation of weather observation facility 346
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 21
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 9
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 31
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) 1400
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 255
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 24 1997 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 730
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2000 12:21PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6816Q
NTSB Number MIA97LA190
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 137: Agricultural
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Schweizer
Aircraft Model G-164B
Aircraft Series Identifier G-164B
Aircraft Serial Number 320B
Certified Max Gross Weight 4500
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 Mar 3 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 50
Airframe Hours 5510
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name GRAYS FLYING SERVICE, INC.
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 259
Aircraft Owner City EDWARDS
Aircraft Owner State MS
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 39066
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 KZYG
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code M16
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1830
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 Emergency landing
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 --