Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Iowa, Louisiana 70647
Tuesady, July 6, 1999 7:22 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

During an aerial application flight, the main landing gear of the agricultural airplane contacted a rice field, and the wheels bogged down in the field. The airplane nosed over and came to rest in the inverted position. The commercial pilot was spraying the field on an east-west direction. The operator stated that the field being sprayed was bordered on the south by a highway that, due to a construction detour, was heavily traveled by trucks. The wind on the morning of the accident was from the northeast. He added that the pilot was trying to avoid over spraying the vehicles on the highway, and his attention was momentarily diverted from keeping his clearance from the field being sprayed. The 1,450-hour pilot had accumulated 925 flight hours in the accident airplane. The pilot had flown 277 hours in the preceding 90 days, with 141 hours within the last 30 days.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance with the crops being sprayed. A factor was the pilot's diverted attention.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/6/1999
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 722
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City IOWA
Event State LOUISIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 70647
Event Date Year 1999
Event Date Month 7
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 655 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 230
Weather Observation Facility ID CWF
Elevation of weather observation facility 15
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 22
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 800
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
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) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 22
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 360
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
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) 435
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jul 6 1999 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 950
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 12 2000 11:44AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N6703Q
NTSB Number FTW99LA182
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 Grumman
Aircraft Model G-164B
Aircraft Series Identifier G-164B
Aircraft Serial Number 217B
Certified Max Gross Weight 5500
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 Dec 1 1998 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 401
Airframe Hours 7976
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name ZOREN O'BRIEN
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. DRAWER 607
Aircraft Owner City IOWA
Aircraft Owner State LA
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 70647
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 KGRG
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
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 711
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 10:35AM
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 --