Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pvt Dirt Strip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Brawley, California 92227
Wednesday, February 2, 2000 15:00 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was spraying sulfur on a carrot field when he lost engine power and made a forced landing in an alfalfa field, coming to rest inverted. The pilot had noted an increase in oil consumption the day of the accident. A witness observed two puffs of black smoke emanate from the airplane prior to making the forced landing. During the engine inspection it was noted that the number 5 exhaust rocker arm was found broken. Further disassembly of the number 5 cylinder revealed that the exhaust push rod was bent; due to the appearance and length it was determined that it was the intake push rod. When the exhaust push rod and the intake push rod were placed side-by-side, the intake push rod was the longer of the two and the one that was bent. Maintenance personnel stated that the only way an intake push rod could be installed in the exhaust side of the cylinder was to loosen the cylinder and pull it away from the case to allow for an increased distance between the rocker arm and lifter. When the cylinder was re-torqued, with the push rods in a switched configuration, the intake push rod would bend in the exhaust housing due to its length. After replacement of the pushrods and broken rocker arm, an engine run was conducted with no anomalies noted. Review of the engine logbook revealed that a major overhaul had been conducted on the engine approximately 3 months prior to the accident. Records indicated a mechanic and inspector conducted an inspection of the cylinders and associated components; the engine was test run with no discrepancies and then inspected by a different mechanic and inspector and signed off by all four individuals as being in airworthy condition and returned to service. A review of the engine logbooks also revealed that maintenance had been performed on the airplane since the overhaul, but not in the area of the number 5 cylinder.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Failure of the engine due to improper installation of the intake and exhaust push rods (components were switched) by unknown maintenance personnel.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/2/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | BRAWLEY |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 92227 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | PVT DIRT STRIP |
| 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 | 1450 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 170 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | IPL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 14 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| 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 | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 963 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 2 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1520 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 2 2001 2:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N23043 |
| NTSB Number | LAX00LA087 |
| 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 | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Air Tractor |
| Aircraft Model | AT-301 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | AT-301 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 301-0352 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7000 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 10 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 41 |
| Airframe Hours | 5693 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | VAL AIR CO. INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 822 E. SHANK RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | BRAWLEY |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92227 |
| 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 | LSVG |
| 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 | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| 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 | Jun 14 2001 4:03AM |
| 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 | -- |